Ever After
by Mouse9
Summary: The hottest thing on television is a teen drama called "Ever After". It's fresh, it's raw, and it's popular in the Shortman household. The problem is, the story might be a little less fiction and a little more family history.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Okay, not true, I created the daughters, and the head programming director. And Belinda. And the actors. Okay, so I don't anyone or anything that reminds anyone remotely of the television show. Those all belong to Craig Bartlett (all hail Craig) and Snee-Oosh (all hail Snee-Oosh) who are kind enough to turn their heads while we play in their sandbox.

* * *

" **You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should've behaved better." – Anne Lamott**

 **Press Release: Happily ever after**

 **Their tag line might be "not all stories have happy endings" but that isn't the case for** **Ever After** **.**

 **This quirky show that the powers that be took a chance on three years ago has blown up in popularity and ratings.**

 **The show, which was introduced to the WCB as a "high school drama in four seasons", quickly rose to the top of the rating for the station. Hel and Tad, the creators and writers of** **Ever After ****have remained closely aligned with this show, demanding an almost unswerving loyalty from everyone attached from the directors to the cast.**

 **The show was a gamble because of the way it was introduced to everyone: a high school show that would only be four season, one for each year of school. No one character was ever raised about any of the others. Even the actors and actresses that play the characters are only ever professionally photographed as a group, no one person is raised above any of the others. One on one interviews are never approved, and in a surprise move we've seen recently even the cast members themselves refuse to be photographed or interviewed without another cast member present.**

 **So as** **Ever After ****heads into its Senior and last year, what's in store for the students of Holly Hills High as well as the young actors and actresses that have played these characters for the last three years of their lives? We can only tune in and find out but I can guarantee it's going to be magical.  
**

* * *

"There's no way we can convince you to continue the show?" Richard Becker, head programming director for the WCB, asked. "We are more than happy to sign everyone to a ten season contract right now, no questions asked."

The dark haired man sitting in one of the chairs to Becker's left grinned mischievously and glanced towards the blond woman sitting next to him.

"When we came to you with this idea, Inane Zebra specifically stated that this would be a four season television show only. There is no story after graduation. I understand that you feel this is one of your more popular shows but I'm sorry, there isn't anything after this."

Becker chuckled. "More popular? This show is the most popular show on this channel. Anderson West is the teen answer to Ryan Gosling and Ann Cummings is the next Nina Dobrev."

"Well then, it's a good thing this show is in its final season. After it's over you can finally market these kids separately because while they're on this show, there are no favorites. And a potential six more seasons of group only photos and interviews won't do them any favors." Tad, the dark haired man said. "Each and every one of these kids signed on knowing that this show was four seasons only. Just enough to rise them to popularity if it did well. They all understood, agreed and signed the same contract. Going back and asking them to extend said contract would not only ruin the show but it would ruin their careers because I promise you Mr. Becker, if we ever did ridiculously agree to more seasons, the same contract would be in effect for everyone. This show was never about one person; it was about a group of fifteen kids during the most important four years of their life."

* * *

"Got a little passionate there at the end." Helga said once they were in the car. Beside her Tad breathed a heavy sigh and leaned back in his seat as his companion pulled out of the parking lot.

"Studio heads seeing dollar signs is always bad business." He answered. "I think I scared him down though."

Helga laughed. "Threatening him with ruining the one thing he wants to exploit more than anything, hell yeah you scared him."

"Good, that was the plan." He picked up his phone and began typing. "So, where to now?"

"I figure we'd order pizza and find a solution to this ridiculous contest the suits want us to do. There has to be a way to keep them quiet without losing our dignity."

* * *

 _ **Author's Notes: I never do this but this time it felt warranted. As of today's first posting, this story is not complete. Which is some I usually never do, but I've fallen for this story and I'm impatient to share it with all of you and technically I only have maybe one more chapter to do before it is completed. In the meantime, I'm going to try out this posting once a week thing. Except this post. There will be two chapters posted today. (see, I'm already breaking my rules!)**_

 _ **This is actually a love letter to you guys, my readers. Some of which are some of my favorite writers in this fandom. It makes me so happy that you guys like my work. So this is dedicated to you out there. I hope it lives up to your expectations.**_

 _ **~Mouse**_


	2. Chapter One

_Scene: Front doors of Holly Hills High School with hordes of teens walking in and hanging out in the hallways. Cut to four teens climbing the stairs. Marcus hooks an arm around Sophia's waist and tugs her close to him, an excited look on his face. He turned slightly to address the blond male walking slightly behind the two._

 _Marcus: "Man Arthur, high school! We're going to rule these four years!"_

 _Arthur: [laughs lightly]. "I'll settle for graduating and just enjoying this experience."_

 _Sophia: [smiling]. "I agree Arthur. High school is full of new experiences. It's quite thrilling to see what new ones we'll be faced with."_

 _Helen: "Bets on who faces the sixteen and pregnant experience?"_

 _Marcus: [scowls in her direction]. "Well it won't be you, that's for sure."_

 _Helen: [mirrors his scowl]. "Yeah because I'm too smart to fall for those little lies you boys tell."_

 _Sophia smacks at Helen's arm lightly to admonish her. Hurrying to step behind Sophia and Helen, Arthur peeks his head over their shoulders to eye Helen curiously._

 _Arthur: "Why are you always the pessimist?"_

 _Helen: [raises an eyebrow and gives him a look.] "I'm a realist. And someone has to balance out your Pollyanna attitude."_

 _S1E1 "Clean Slate"_

* * *

Season finale night was a big deal in his household. For the last two years, Daphne and her three friend gathered at the house and stocked with snacks and drinks watched the season finale of Ever After. The show struck a chord with his teen daughter and for some reason it was her absolute favorite show. Usually there was texting going on during the show as Daphne, Isabella, Veronica, and Alyssa watched the show from their own house and immediately afterwards there was a weekly group facetime session where they spent an hour dissecting the show. Arnold didn't understand it, but then, he wasn't a teenage girl. Patty merely shrugged when he asked what the allure was and reminded him that she grew up with wrestling and sports in her house. Timberly smiled nostalgically and said it was merely an escape.

Truth be told, he didn't know much about the show; he tried to watch an episode or two and honestly couldn't figure it out. On the plus side, the so called students weren't all falling into bed with each other like on some of the other "teen" shows and there weren't any supernatural creatures as seemed to be the new popular thing. Just a group of kids living their life. He'd asked Daphne once and she said it was real; no sugar coating, no fictional monsters. It was real life and it was engaging.

Half listening to the chatter of the four girls as they prepared for the show, he glanced at the clock in the kitchen. Five minutes before the show started.

"Thanks for agreeing to host this insane party." Timberly leaned against the kitchen counter, fondly watching the four girls talking excitedly as the final minutes of the current show aired. Arnold turned his attention from the kitchen clock and gave her a wry grin. Timberly had been a part of his family for as long as he could remember. Little sister to his best friend, she'd been the annoying little sister to him also and he'd always treated her as such. And with Gerald becoming a slave to his police detective career, Arnold relied on Timberly to give him updates on her family and his best friend.

"It's no problem, really." He answered, sweeping stray popcorn kernels from the counter. "They pretty much stay glued to that spot for an entire hour, barring quick runs to the bathroom during commercials."

"Still, four squealing girls in a house would be enough to send Devon running for his garage." She teased. Devon was her husband and he the workings of teen girls was as foreign to him as cooking a pot of spaghetti. If it wasn't sports related, car related or involving an outdoor grill, he didn't understand it. Yet the man adored Timberly and his daughter and in the end that was all Arnold could ask for his unofficial little sister.

The now familiar sounds of the opening theme music to Ever After wafted from the living room and all sound save the television ceased in there. Timberly and Arnold both peeked in the living room to see four girls in different poses on the couch intently watching the screen. Timberly shook her head in amusement and looked back to Arnold.

"How are you and Daphne doing?" She asked, her voice lower. He smiled.

"We're good. More than good, I think." He answered, his voice just as low as to not be overheard by the girls.

"And her royal bitchiness?" Timberly ventured. Before Arnold could answer the house phone rang. Giving her a look, he walked towards the kitchen phone and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Let me speak to my daughter." The bored and annoyed voice of Lila said on the other end. Arnold gave Timberly a knowing look and moved a bit away from the living room.

"Can't. Daphne is in the middle of something. She can call you back when she's finished."

"That's quite impossible." Lila sighed dramatically. "I'm in the middle of something and can't be interrupted. This is the only time I have free, so you need to collect her and tell her to speak with me."

"I've already told you I can't do that right now."

"Are you keeping my daughter from me?" she threatened. From her spot against the kitchen counter, Timberly rolled her eyes.

"Why is she always your daughter when you want her to drop everything to cater to you?" Arnold asked. "I'm not keeping her from you, I'm telling you that she can't come to the phone right now and will call you back as soon as she finishes what she's doing."

"I will come over there right now if you don't put her on this phone this instant."

"I thought you were in the middle of something?"

"Arnold…"

"Lila, Daphne will call you back as soon as she is finished." He interrupted. "And don't come over, I changed the locks last week as the latest court order told me I could." He hung up the phone and with an afterthought, turned the ringer down low.

"She's going to call the cops." Timberly said knowingly.

"I know."

Sudden noise indicated that there was a commercial break and he leaned his head into the living room. "Call your mom when this is over!" he yelled out.

From the living room Daphne groaned and pulled out her cell phone. "Mom, I'm busy, I'll call you later. If this is about Friday, yes, I'll be ready at six as usual."

She pushed the end button and turned her phone to mute. "Big surprise, she's not answering." She yelled back sarcastically.

Arnold stepped back into the kitchen glanced towards Timberly, a small half smirk on his lips. "Yep, she and I are just fine."

Daphne dropped her cell phone next to her on the couch, ignoring the lit up screen indicating that someone was calling her. On the floor next to her feet, Isabella stretched her legs and glanced behind her towards the hallway.

"What's taking Alyssa so long? The shows going to start back up in another commercial."

"She'll be out with seconds to spare." Daphne lifted a foot onto the couch to check her toenail polish. "She's got this timed perfectly."

Sitting on the couch next to Daphne, Veronica smiled knowingly as she read a couple of pages in her book during the commercial break.

The sound of the bathroom door opening in the hallway coincided with the theme music to Ever After cause a shriek from the hallway and the three girl's attention to snap up to the screen.

 _ **Ever dreamed about walking the halls of Holly Hills High? To be in a class with Arthur or Brooke? Now's your chance. WCB is holding the "Happily Ever After: The Holly Hills Experience. One lucky winner will receive four round trip tickets for a five day, four night stay to Hollywood California to visit the WCB studios and meet the cast and crew of**_ _ **Ever After**_ _ **and a walk on part on the show! Go to the WCB/Ever After website to find out how to enter this contest. Win a walk on role on the hottest teen show ever and live happily**_ _ **Ever After**_ _ **!**_

Silence filled the living room for a half a second followed very quickly by excited squeals of delight that were quickly cut off again as the show started back up after its commercial break. Two adult peered curiously into the living room for a moment and not seeing anything out of sorts went back to their discussion in the kitchen. 

* * *

Five minutes before the episode was over, there was a knock on the side kitchen door. Arnold went to answer it and Patty stepped in, casting a quick glance towards the living room when she neared it.

"Is it over yet?" she asked, her voice almost a quiet whisper. In answer, a screamed cheer broke through the silence of the living room followed by a choked "What the hell?" and "NO!"

Arnold gave her an amused grin. "Not quite yet. You taking Ronnie home?"

Patty nodded. "I told Rhonda it was on my way."

Seconds later the living room erupted in outraged shouts of disbelief and four teen girls were on their feet shouting at the television as the closing credits played. Arnold poked his head in as Timberly snickered in amusement.

"You know the television can't hear you." He stated.

"That's crap! That's utter crap!" Alyssa exclaimed passionately as the three girls walked into the kitchen.

Daphne gave a sneer of agreement, Veronica merely nodded her head, and Isabella growled lowly.

"I seriously hate Lisa and her sickeningly perfect clothing and her sickeningly perfect manner of speech. She's a back stabbing, spiteful bi…"

"Language." Patty warned.

"nt of an evil person." Isabella finished. Another sneer from Daphne before she finally spoke.

"I have no idea how Arthur can't see that Helen is perfect for him." She shook her head. "Granted she's a bit odd as everything she does revolves around him but he makes her try to be a better person."

Timberly gave her a look. "Did you just quote As Good as it Gets?"

Daphne returned her look. "I don't even know what that is."

Alyssa sighed again, her face taking on a dreamy look. "But Stephanie and Gordon. And Sophia and Marcus, oh my God, Sophia and Marcus!"

Isabella giggled lightly. "I can't believe he proposed to propose. Getting married after high school, they're just so perfect for each other."

Patty looked at Arnold and Timberly. "How does one propose to propose?"

"It's more like a promise ring situation." Timberly answered. She snuck a glance towards Arnold who for a moment had a pained expression on his face. He blinked and smiled at the three teen girls.

"So what was the scream in the middle of the show for? Someone get into a fight?"

"Oh my God, Mom!" Isabella suddenly screamed. "They're doing a contest for Ever After! A walk on part and a trip to California and you can meet the cast and a walk on part on the show…"

"You've said that already dear," Patty told her, smiling.

"And let me guess, you're all going to try and enter?" Timberly asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah!" Alyssa answered.

"Remember, there's millions of girls who are going to enter this contest," Timberly told all four girls. "The chances of winning this are astronomical."

"Yes, but we have my dad's ever winning optimism on our side." Daphne argued, beaming at her father. "Right dad? Because we totally need a happily ever after."

Arnold chuckled, reaching over and pulling his daughter into a hug. "Sweetie, I'm about out of winning optimism, but for you, I will scrape up the last bit." 

* * *

"I had to give up weekend plans for this." Daphne flopped onto the couch next to her father looking over at him impatiently. "Can't I just tell her I don't want to go?"

Arnold looked up from his book. "If you want the police at our house at ten at night on a weekend while your mother dramatically wails about how I am keeping you from her. The course of action may or may not end with me being arrested but it will definitely end up with us back in court."

"But I'm sixteen. Everyone else who has custody says that once they turned sixteen the judge let them weigh in on what they wanted to do."

Smiling, he put his book down and reached out to wrap an arm around his daughter. "But everyone else's parents are divorced. Your mom and I are still in the process so the rules for you are a bit different."

She folded her arms and pouted. "This is stupid. It's almost ten on a Friday evening and Mom's past late. And I never do anything at her house anyway, basically sit at the house and watch TV. If we do go out, it's to the mall or some other someplace where she can pretend she's my sister or aunt. I can't even call her Mom when we're out."

"I'm sorry sweetheart, but until the divorce is final and everything is hammered out, we're kind of trapped like this."

The doorbell rang and Daphne climbed to her feet. "It's stupid." She muttered huffily as she walked towards her room. The doorbell rang again as Arnold climbed to his feet and twice more before he reached the front door. He unlocked it and yanked it open exasperated.

"It's not necessary to ring the doorbell over and over. Give us a minute to get to the door."

Lila stood on the porch checking her nails. "If you hadn't locked me out I wouldn't have to ring the doorbell."

She pushed past him and walked into the house. Arnold shut the door behind him, glaring at her back. "I haven't locked you out, you don't live here anymore."

She waved her hand dismissively, casting a quick glance around the house. "Where's Daphne. I'm running late."

"I'm coming." Daphne walked around the corner of the room carrying her back pack over her shoulder. Lila smiled.

"Hello darling!" She air kissed each cheek. "I have a busy schedule for us tomorrow so we have to go."


	3. Chapter Two

_Scene: school auditorium, side stage there is a piano used for assemblies and play rehearsals. Helen sits at the piano playing a haunting melody._

 _The door to the side stage opens and Theodore slips in avoiding mid-class rush. He halts just out of sight listening to the music. As the last note trials off he reveals himself._

 _Theodore: "I didn't know you played."_

 _Helen: [turns towards him with a start.] "Moe?"_

 _An unamused smirk crosses his lips._

 _Theodore: "I'd prefer if you used my given name rather than that ridiculous childhood nickname, if it's all the same to you." He is surprised when Helen doesn't grow angry. Instead she looks back down at the piano keys._

 _Helen: "Sorry, of course. It's stupid to think that I'm the only one trying to shake off the past."_

 _Theodore creeps closer to the piano and Helen and repeats his earlier question._

 _Theodore: "I didn't know you played."_

 _Helen's head is down for a moment, her fingers lightly brushing over the keys before raising her head to look at Theodore a sad smile on her face._

 _Helen: "There are a lot of things people don't know about me."_

 _S1E4 "Devil in the Details"_

* * *

The door to the modernized warehouse home opened and Tad walked in dropping his bags onto the floor next to the entrance. Pulling off his sunglasses, he kicked the door shut as he stepped further into the open house.

"Honey! I'm home!" He called out.

Leaving the bags by the door he hurried up the stairs to the second floor, intending to head up to the roof when he spotted Helga curled up on the couch watching the large TV. Slowing his steps, he tilted his head slightly to see Bogey on the screen in black and white.

"Watching cheesy romantic movies again?" He asked changing his direction and casually dropping onto the couch besides her. She shrugged turning away from the screen.

"I like the remake better but I do love Audrey Hepburn." She eyed his attire. "You look tan."

"Yep. A week of sipping mai-tai's on the beach surrounded by curvy blondes does a guy good." He joked. She rolled her eyes and turned back to the screen.

"Tell me you didn't sit in this house your entire vacation." He pleaded with her.

"No. I spend a couple of days in Napa and stopped by San Diego before coming back. I got back yesterday."

"Ohhh, Napa sounds nice." He tucked his sunglasses into the vee of his shirt. "Did you find a rich handsome Italian guy to spend a whirlwind weekend with?"

She snorted, picking up the remote control and clicking the pause button. "No. No Italians, no Brits, no Americans. Just a peaceful week of relaxing by myself."

He nudged her shoulder with his own giving her a lopsided grin. "Was that supposed to be a dig at me?"

"Ugh!" She exclaimed as he laughed and stood up.

"You say I drive you nuts but you'd be bored after more than a week without me." He teased as he headed back towards the stairs.

"Make sure you actually do your laundry instead of leaving it in the laundry room for a month this time!" She yelled at his retreating form as she clicking the play button again and put the remote control down beside her on the couch. "I'm tired of cleaning sand from the hallways." 

* * *

He climbed the stairs to the rooftop terrace as the sun was setting. Helga was up there as she usually was, reading a book as music played softly from the speakers built into the walls. He crossed the space and leaned against the high ledge, silently looking out at the city for a time.

"Ready to get back to work?" He asked.

"I do better when I'm working." She answered, not looking up from her book.

"This is the final season."

"I know. I'll work until this is all over and then maybe I'll take a vacation. Maybe England to take a tour of Jane Austen haunts. I've always wondered what Derbyshire looked like. Then I'll come back and start on the next project. Maybe use my real name for a change."

Tad turned from the ledge. "No you won't." He smirked. She looked up and returned it with a small grin.

"No, I won't." She agreed.

Leaving the ledge, he walked over and took one of the chairs across from her. "God knows we'll have enough money from syndication and merchandising. We could take a couple of years off…or at least take our time with the next project."

"We could." Closing the book, she placed it in her lap. "But do we want to? We've worked non-stop since we came to this town. I'm not sure either of us would know what to do if there wasn't a project in the immediate future."

He shrugged. "Maybe a comedy about a wild animal vet in a zoo taking on animal rights activists."

She laughed. "Only if we can talk Allen into it."

"Deal."

Leaning back, he looks up at the twilight sky contemplatively. "Are you ready for this season? I mean other than the meeting we have with the kids in a couple of day and the upcoming stacks of letters you're forcing us to go through."

"Shouldn't I be? As you've said, it's our final year, so other than the butterflies I have from the slow realization that I won't be doing this again this time next year, I'm right as rain."

His eyes flicked down from the sky to settle on her features. "Helga."

She met his gaze for a moment before opening her book again. "Tad, I'll cross that bridge when we get to it." 

* * *

Darrick, Tamara, and Lana met up in the hallway leading towards the large conference room.

"You guys got called in too?" Darrick asked. Tamara and Lana looked at each other before shrugging.

"I think we all did." Lana said as they walked down the hall.

"Anyone know what's going on?" He asked. "Is the show getting cancelled?"

Tamara smirked. "Don't be silly. We're the top rated show on this network, they aren't taking us anywhere."

"You guys got called in too?"

Ray, Joan and Tim were approaching from the other end of the hallway towards them.

"Maybe they're finally telling us who's getting the axe." Tim joked. "They mentioned not everyone would make it through all four seasons."

"Maybe it's your character." Lana retorted. "Quit being dramatic. It's probably just a team meeting. Hel and Tad do have those every once in a while."

Joan put her hand on the door knob leading to the large conference room. "Only one way to find out."

She pushed to door open and the six stepped in. Most of the rest of the cast were there; lounging in chairs, talking in small groups as they grabbed coffee or a pastry from the table set up on the side. Ariel and Blaine were in a heated discussion about something as Anne sat on the table in between them, scrolling through her phone. Rebecca, Allen, Darren and Anderson were sitting in a circle each talking around each other about the awards show the night before.

The door opened almost immediately again and Hel and Tad entered.

Tad, black hair fashionably shaggy, his brown eyes sparkling in amusement, his ever present coffee tumbler that read Freeing zoo animals since 2009in his hand. Closing the door behind her, Helga hid a yawn with her free hand, the other holding an Ever After tumbler. Her blond hair was up in its ever present French braid.

"All right kids, settle down." Tad called out to the group. Hel glanced at him over the rim of her mug as she drank and he gave her a cheeky grin.

"Oh come on, I've always wanted to say that." He teased.

"You say that every time we have one of these meetings." Helga deadpanned. She plucked Anne's phone from her fingers as she passed, pausing only long enough to turn off the phone and hand it back to her.

"Sorry." Anne murmured as she passed and sat down in one of the last two empty chairs.

Tad put his tumbler down on the table and smiled brightly at the group. "I'm sure you're all wondering why we called you here."

Beside him, Helga groaned in frustration. "You say that every time too."

"You are very cranky today." He remarked. "I think you might need another shot of espresso."

"The heads in the PR department want to add more social media into this final season of the show." Helga said taking over the meeting and ignoring Tad's fake pout as he sat down. "Apparently they've had people searching social media sites to see what the fans are saying about the show. In addition to several of their current shows have actors who tend to live tweet during the episodes, PR seems to think we should have a weekly live chat. Or live tweet. Whatever." She looked at the group of actors slowly. "How many of you do this already?"

Five raised their hands and Helga shook her head slowly. "I should have known it would be you five. Anne, how does it go normally? I mean, are the fans usually respectful or just straight out crazy?"

The raven haired actress shook her head, turning back on her phone. "No, they're usually really cool. I don't do it a lot, just usually when I'm at home watching the episode. There's always some rude people, but for the most part they're just fans wanting acknowledgement from their favorite characters." She smiled mischievously. "The party episode this past season, Allen and I took to Twitter at the same time."

Across the table the dark haired actor laughed. "I have never had my Twitter blow up like that before. I seriously couldn't keep up."

"By the end, it was just Allen and I going back and forth a la Brooke and Theo. The fans ate it up."

Tad huffed. "Would you two quit messing up my plan? I have a plan."

Allen ignored him, instead nodding towards Anderson and Rebecca. "I bet if you guys got Andy, Becky and Ariel in a live chat during an episode, we could break the internet."

Sarah looked up excited. "Do it!"

Sitting next to Allen, Rebecca frowned. "What? Wait? What am I doing?"

"No thanks," Ariel said waving her hands. "Twitter scares me."

"It's not Twitter, Ariel." Anne insisted. "It's a live chat which means you'll be chatting with those two and the fans."

Ariel looked stricken.

"Hold on you chucklehead, nobody's live chatting anyone just yet." Helga said loud enough to be heard over the dull roar of chatter in the room. "There's gonna be rules set up for the official live blogging of the episodes since it seems like there's a general consensus that this needs to happen."

A couple of the kids cheered followed by scattered giggles.

"We'll set up an assigned schedule on who will live blog depending on the episode playing that week." She continued, ignoring the cheers. "It only makes sense to have to people live chatting who are relevant in the storyline for that week. That's officially. However, if you five want to take to Twitter…unofficially like you've been doing, we're not going to say anything. Just remember to keep it on topic, personal lives are off limits. You guys only have one more year of this before you're on your own and the media eats you alive. And while we're on the subject, there will be one week this season where I want us on media black-out. Maybe two weeks."

The room fell silent and all eyes fell on both Tad and Helga.

"That got their attention." Tad joked lightly.

"It's really happening?" Darrick asked, his voice hushed.

"You're firing one of us?" Sarah continued.

"We're not firing any of you." Tad insisted, "Every single one of you signed four year contracts and will continue to work and get paid until this show goes off the air. However, you all knew that there were going to be characters that didn't go through all four years. This is the year when everything changes."

"Will you tell us who?" Sarah asked.

"Nope." Tad answered. "You'll all find out the week before it happens, except for the person playing that character, obviously they'll know beforehand."

"No hints?" Allen asked.

"Look, these are important episodes." Tad told him, his voice serious. "We've never shied away from any topic and we're not about to start now. We want the shock to be real when you first read the script. We want that shock and disbelief to bleed through in the scenes. It has to be real and it has to be honest or it's not going to work."

The room was silent as everyone contemplated who it was and what could happen in this final season. Finally, Anne sighed heavily.

"Okay enough depressing stuff. Tell us what we really want to know, this is the season Brooke and Theo are getting together, right?"

Tad groaned and dropped his head on the desk.

"They're seriously pushing this Brooke and Theo thing." Helga mentioned casually after the teens had left the meeting.

"The more I avoid the question, the more they push. It's getting annoying." Tad picked up his tumbler and finished the last of the coffee in it.

Closing her tablet, she side-eyed him carefully. "We have the power to rewrite scripts, change a couple of things." This was a touchy subject and she didn't want to barrel through with an observation. On the other hand, if he wanted to change anything doing with potential final relationships, she didn't want him to think that she was being a stickler on it. Their relationship had worked so long due to the simple fact that they did discuss things and worked together. Standing up, Tad headed towards the door.

"The tag line of this show has been and will continue to be Not every story has a happy ending."

His hand was reaching for the door when she spoke again. "Not every story, but would it be so bad if one or two got a Hollywood ending?"

His hand fell away from the door and he stood there for a moment, facing the closed door silently. Taking a deep breath, he turned around. She stood on the other side of the big table, looking hesitant and unsure.

"Hel," He walked back towards the table, hands flattening against them as he focused on her. "I know you understand why I'm not changing my stance, but I'll make you a deal; Brooke and Theo can have a happy ending like the kids want if Arthur acknowledges that Helen is actually the girl he's been waiting for these four year."

Helga scoffed derisively. "Not going to happen. Can't happen."

"Exactly. Which is why we're sticking to the original plan. No matter what the fans say about the show writers not listening to their fans, remember this is our story, not theirs. We get to tell who has a happy ending. That's why they have fan fiction."

She smiled slightly. "One of us should've gotten the happy every after."

"Aw, baby, that's not how the real world works. You and I both know that." He grinned crookedly. "However, I will grant one potential shippy thing to happen between Brooke and Theo, and only because there may have been a near miss or two in my life. And it'll make it even more devastating when the inevitable ending happens."

An intrigued eyebrow rose. "A near miss? Or two?"

"Definitely one."

"Huh. You're going to have to tell me about that."

He grinned again. "I'm sure you can get me sufficiently drunk to spill it."


	4. Chapter Three

_Interviewer: Ever After is one of the hottest shows on the WCB right now. How does it feel to be one of the top rated shows on this channel?_

 _Anderson: I think we're all really excited and blessed to have this opportunity._

 _Interviewer: Rumors are that this show is picked up for 4 seasons. Do you know if there are any talks of extending it?_

 _Joan: You'd have to ask Inane Zebra. We were all only signed for 4 seasons and the way we understood it that was it._

 _Interviewer: Anderson, you're one of the most googled actors over this season. How do you feel about your new popularity status?_

 _Anderson: We're all just thrill to have been given the opportunity to show what we can do on this show. If we're doing our job right, then people will either love us or love to hate us._

 _Interviewer: But your new found popularity must be exciting. And right now, there isn't much about you. Anything you want to share?_

 _Anderson: Not really, I think we're all private people. This is all new to us and we're all so lucky to have a great support base with keep us grounded._

 _Ariel: Tad and Hel are like our stage parents. They keep us on track and keep us grounded which is what, I think, not very many teen actors have when they first start out._

 _Interview with the cast of Ever After (after 1_ _st_ _season)_

* * *

"You know; most single parents relax when they get a weekend off."

Arnold looked over his shoulder at the man behind him, smiling happily. "Gerald, you made it."

Gerald smiled tiredly and joining in the special handshake the two had been doing since they were kids. "Timberly would've killed me if I hadn't showed up. It seems I've missed the last two outings."

"I've lost count." He joked, wincing when Gerald lightly punched him on the shoulder. "I'm glad you made it man. Haven't seen much of you recently."

Gerald dug his hand into the ice chest and pulled out a soda. "The next district over borrowed me to help on their workload. I'm surprised I remember what the inside of my house looks like."

Arnold laughed lightly. "So, you back over here now?"

He nodded, popping the top and taking a long drink. "Yep. That and a couple of days off and I'll be right as rain. So, how is my god-daughter?"

"Fifteen. If you've been around Alyssa enough then you know what Daphne's like. Lyss, Izzy, Ronnie and Daphne are thick as thieves."

Gerald took another drink. "Yeah, I heard about your three hour all girls party a couple of weeks ago, you sly dog."

"Um, it was four teenaged girls, your sister and Patty Berman. It's not like we had the tiki torches and the slip and slide out."

Gerald laughed as the two men crossed the yard to find a seat. As they passed, Gerald waved to several people who called out to him and stopped briefly to drop a kiss on his mother's head.

"Ah, some days I miss the old high school parties." He sighed as they found two empty lawn chairs. "I seem to remember one of Rhonda's parties that involved just those two items."

Arnold laughed sharply. "I'm surprised you remember anything from that party, you were pretty trashed. In fact, the only reason you might remember anything about that was because you were one of the idiots who tried to slip and slide into the pool."

Gerald laughed again. "Not one of my finest moments. And speaking of dumb ideas, how is your ex-wife?"

Arnold glared at him before sighing heavily. "She's not my ex-wife yet."

"But we're counting down the days, right?"

"If only it were that close." He took a drink from his cup. "We're still fighting over custody."

Gerald winced. "Ouch, poor Daphne."

"I told you I had to go to court to be able to get the locks changed in my house, right?"

"Yeah, how'd that go?"

He dug for his ringing cell phone as he spoke. "The judge ruled in my favor, but damned if she ever follows the rulings." He glanced at the caller id and frowned. "If your mother finds out you're calling me during her time, she'll have a fit."

"Daddy?" The terrified, hushed whispered tones of his daughter immediately sent chills down his spine. Gerald notice his change and frowned questioningly.

"Daphne, sweetie, what's wrong?"

"There's someone in the house." She whispered, her voice near tears. Arnold shot to his feet startling several people around him.

"What? Where's your mother?"

"Out. Someone broke a window downstairs and I can hear them moving around."

"Where are you?" He was almost running towards the front of the house, Gerald keeping pace easily.

"What's going on?" He asked.

"I'm behind some boxes in the upstairs closet." She whispered. "Daddy, I'm scared."

"Baby, your uncle Gerald and I are on our way. Don't move and stay on the line with me, do you hear me?"

"Yes."

Gerald already had his keys out and his phone to his ear talking to dispatch. He grabbed Arnold's arm to pull him towards his car. "What's the address?"

"2410 Whitehall Ln."

"I need patrols to 2410 Whitehall Ln for a possible B&E. There's a minor in the house alone."

"We're on our way baby, there are police on their way too. Just stay calm." He crooned into the phone, trying to soothe his terrified daughter. He could hear her whimper as banging sounds became audible from her phone.

Gerald had put his portable light on top of his car and was racing through the town streets towards the house. He heard more noises over her phone followed by loud voices yelling at someone to put his hands up and relaxed in his seat as Gerald raced around the corner and down towards the house. Two cop cars were already parked in front of the house when Gerald pulled up to the curb across the street. He hadn't even put the car into park when Arnold had the passenger side door open and was running towards the house. Two police officers were leading a man out of the house and a third was assisting Daphne when she spotted him racing towards her.

"Daddy!" She screamed, breaking away from the officer and racing towards Arnold. He grabbed her up as she reached him and held her tightly, his hand cupping her head as she buried her face into his neck.

Gerald walked up behind him, nodding at the officer.

"Perez."

"Johansson. That is a lucky girl right there. This his house?" The officer jerked his head towards Arnold.

"Nah, it's the ex-wife's."

"What in the world…"

The officer and Gerald turned around to see Lila step out of her car, curiously looking at the activity on her front lawn. Spotting Arnold, she slammed the car door and stormed towards him.

'I don't know what kind of funny business you're trying but this is my weekend…"

Arnold let go of Daphne long enough to spin on his heels to face Lila, his face contorted in rage.

"Where the hell were you?" He shouted at her. Her stride faltered, never hearing him really yell at her. "Someone broke into your house and Daphne was alone and had to hide in the upstairs closet. It's eight in the evening on a weekend, why the hell weren't you home with our daughter?"

"I…" she straightened her shoulder, looking past him towards the house. "Someone broke into my house?"

"That's what you're worried about?" He asked in disbelief. "Not that Daphne was in danger, only that you've got glass in your house?"

She gave him a disgusted look. "Well of course I'm worried about Daphne, but she's sixteen, not five like you obviously think she is. She is more than capable to take care of herself. And it's not like I knew some idiot was going to try to break into my house. She obviously had enough sense to call 911."

"Gerald called it in." Arnold gritted out. "She called me because her mother wasn't home like she was supposed to be."

"Of course, because I'm always the bad guy in these situations." Lila snapped. Gerald placed a hand on Arnold's shoulder.

"Come on Arnold. Let it go. Daphne's safe, let's just get back to the cookout."

Taking a deep breath, Arnold nodded. "You're right. Daphne, get your bag."

Lila glared at him. "What? You're not taking her, it's still my weekend. I'll call the…"

"Do it." He snarled at her, waving towards the two police cars. "In fact they're right here, go ahead and make a report. Just remember that I have four of Hillwood's officers here as witnesses to you leaving Daphne alone and a police report. So, go ahead and file a report, I dare you."

Lila glared at him but didn't say a word. A moment later, Daphne came out still shaken and holding her backpack. Arnold took ahold of her shoulder and with a final glare towards Lila, guided the teen off the front lawn and across the street to Gerald's car.

A few moments later, Gerald got in and started the car. The ride was silent for a bit as he drove back towards his sister's house. Finally, he looked over at Arnold grinning. "You're a brave man, Arnold."

Arnold just shook his head. 

* * *

The contest the WCB had thought up was a 500 word or less story on how Ever After was the favorite show and why. For almost a month letters had been pouring in and were being sorted by the interns who were scanning each letter and putting them in piles of "love letter to actor/actress", "basic fan letter", "people that went on the wall of potential restraining orders" and "actual entries". The actual entries, still quite numerous,were delivered to Tad and Hel's office at the studio.

The office was currently covered with letters, small novels, artwork, empty envelopes and two frazzled adults sorting through it all. Tad was laying on the leather couch upside down, his feet dangling over the top of the couch, his glasses slipping up his forehead, sheets of paper in front of his face.

"Hahahahano!" he announced, tossing the sheets of paper away from him. They fluttered away like light pink pieces of confetti before coming to rest on the carpet beside him.

He looked at the woman sitting in the overstuffed chair next to the couch, her feet curled up under her, a stack of letters on the small table in between them.

"We can have assistants read these, you know." He reached onto the couch cushion beside him and pull another envelope from the stack.

"I trust the assistants to separate the actual entries from the other stuff. I don't trust assistants to find what I want." Helga said, tossing the letting she held to the side and picking up another envelope. "If we have to do this ridiculous contest, I'm dammed well going to find the perfect fit for our show. I'll not have some annoying twit win this and suddenly think she's a diva." Another letter was tossed to the side. "And one of the requirements is that the person be able to write in a complete sentence."

"With as much fan fiction on the internet about this show, you'd think we'd at least get a couple of interesting essays." Tad said good naturedly, moving the letter he held to a different stack before picking up another envelope. "Do we have a maybe pile?"

Helga pointed towards the small stack of letters on the large wooden desk in the room.

"Oh good, there are some that are actually tolerable." Tad joked. Flipping off the couch, he climbed to his feet only to fall back on the couch the proper way, scattering papers and envelopes around him. "Shooting starts in about two weeks, are we going to have someone by then, because you know Becker is going to be chomping at the bit around that time.

"God, I hope so." She picked up another envelope from the stack and pulled out the sheets of paper in it. "Because once we start writing for this season in a day or two, I'm not going to have time to pick a person."

Tad shook out several sheets of paper and scanned the contents. He frowned suddenly, sitting up and rereading aloud.

 _High school is the most horrendous time in a person's life, even more frustrating than marriage, divorces, job searching, possibly even child rearing…okay maybe not child rearing._

 _High school is a social experience one is never ready for; just thrown into a lion's den with no warning, just commanded to survive. And how does one survive packs of hungry lions?_

 _Puberty, awkward social situations there is no manual for, inner cliques, outer cliques, drama, backstabbing, soap opera status scenes cast impromptu in the middle of the hallway for the world to see. Paparazzi have nothing on the sharks that are watching your every move just waiting for you to fail, waiting for you to bleed, waiting for you to break._

Helga lowered the sheets of paper she held, her attention captured by Tad's reading.

 _Watching your worst fears, your very life played out five days a week in a public setting with critics waiting with bated breath to see your next move, knowing you have to show no fear even when you just want to sit in the middle of the room and cry because your heart is breaking. High school doesn't care if your friends are sick, if your parents are divorcing, if your grandparents are dying. It demands nothing less than absolute obedience to the structured rules of society, insisting that homework is completed, tests are finished, papers are turned in at the designated time._

 _You will be eaten alive, unless you armor yourself, fight back. And even then you'll never win._

Helga was up in an instant, the papers falling from her hand as she reached for the papers in Tad's hand. She read the papers quickly, a small smile quirking the side of her mouth.

"Her. This is it. God this is good, I kind of want to use this. Can we get her to sign a release? I'm even willing to pay a royalty for this."

Tad laughed, leaning back against the couch and sweeping the remaining papers from the couch.

"So we don't have to read any more of these?"

"As far as I'm concerned, we're finished. This is the person I want." She flipped over the paper and plucked the envelope from behind the papers. "Crap the last name is smudged. We can get the assistants to look up that information." She went still, her eyes focused on the envelope. Tad leaned forward in concern.

"What's wrong?"

"The letter writer is from Hillwood."

Tad laughed loudly. "Well then at least we know how appropriate her interpretation of high school is." His eyes widened and his grin widened. Helga saw it and pointed a warning finger at him.

"Don't. Don't say it. There's no way in hell this could be…"

"You don't know that." He countered. "Do you want to find another person?"

"No, she's perfect. Dammit. Plus the chances that this," She flipped to the last page of the letter. "Daphne is related to anyone we know is astronomical."

Tad stood up and snatched the letter from her hand. "I'll have the assistants work on the paperwork and let Becker know we have a winner. And maybe we can get someone to pick up and clean up this mound of paper in this room too." He glanced down at the paper, the smirk still on his face.

"Get it out of your mind right now Tad." Helga warned.

"Just saying, if this is someone we know, I am going to loudly laugh at you on set." He remarked as he sauntered out of the room. 

* * *

"Are you still friends with everyone from your high school?"

Arnold stopped in mid-bite of his pasta looking across the table in confusion at his daughter.

"What?"

She stabbed a couple of pieces of rotini onto her fork. "In high school. You don't really talk about it. I know you and Uncle Gerald were friends since pre-school and that you met mom in high school."

"Grade school." He corrected. "Your mom moved to Hillwood in the fourth grade and I fell almost instantly."

Her fork stopped hallway to her mouth. "You and mom have liked each other since fourth grade? Then why the heck didn't it work out?"

He smiled ruefully. "Because your mother and I never should've been together. Not that I'm sad we did, because if we hadn't married, I wouldn't have you. And you, my dear, are one thing I will never regret."

She grinned at him before shoving pasta in her mouth. He looked at her for a moment, strawberry blond hair and patches of strawberry freckles across her nose, and her bright green eyes. She was beautiful and she was his greatest treasure. He speared a piece of rotini and popped it into his mouth.

"But the thing is, as long as we knew each other, your mother and I never really knew each other. Sometimes I think we dated just because it was expected that we would end up together. It wasn't until after we were married that we realized neither of us were what the other thought. I always thought your mother was a country girl who wanted nothing more than to stay at home and raise a house and family and she thought I was going to end up at a therapist or a teacher or something. I never would have thought of her as the correspondent for a major fashion magazine."

"She was close," Daphne said, taking another bite. "You're a professor at the university. That's not a profession to scoff."

"But I didn't always want to be a teacher." His eyes took on a far-away look. "Once I trekked through the jungles of San Lorenzo. So did your mother. We were twelve."

Daphne choked on her pasta. "You were in the jungles at twelve? For real jungles? With monkeys and huge snakes and alligators and everything?"

He gave her a half smile. "All of those and river pirates."

"Seriously?!"

"I won a trip and my class, my grandparents and I all went to San Lorenzo. From age two to the age twelve, I was a ward of my grandparents. My parents were MIA, thought to be dead. Their plane went down somewhere in San Lorenzo and when I was twelve, my friends and I went there to find them."

"I'm guessing you did as I know my grandparents." She hedged.

"We did." He agreed. "Got into fights, were captured by a river pirate named La Sombra, met an entire race of people who at one time held me up as the second coming of their god. Found…" he fell silent for a moment, a frown on his face.

Daphne leaned forward at the table a bit. "Found what?"

Blinking, he smiled and shook his head. "Nothing. Found my parents and brought them back. But as you can see, they aren't the type to stay in one place for long."

They ate in silence for a few moments before Daphne tried again. "So, you don't talk to anyone else other than Gerald from high school anymore?"

"No, Rhonda, Patty and Harold were in my class, and every once in a while I'll see Nadine at the University. I'm not sure what happened to some of them though." He said, spearing the final pieces of pasta on his plate. "Sometimes, things happen. It's no one's fault but things happen and you lose touch with people you were once close to. Things change Daphne, no matter how much we don't want them to, things change."


	5. Chapter Four

Brief author's note: Thank you everyone for your kind reviews. I'm glad everyone is enjoying this ride so far! Also a special thanks to Saturngurl123 for catching a discrepancy. It's been corrected.

* * *

 _Scene: Helen's bedroom_

 _The door opens and Sophia slips into the room, closing the door behind her. Across the room Helen sits on the bed, curled up into herself and looking miserable. Sophia hurries across the room to climb up on the bed and wrap an arm around her best friend._

 _Helen: [arms wrapped tight around her stomach] "I'm fine Soph, just…I'm fine."_

 _Sophia: "You aren't Helen. Please! Just once let me help!"_

 _Helen: [shaking her head wildly, eyes tightly closed.] "Just go away Sophia. It's just a freak out, I'll be fine." Her voice cracks at the last word and Sophia's arm tighten around her friend._

 _Sophia: "No, you need to talk about it, face it."_

 _Helen: "No."_

 _Sophia: "Arthur and Lisa have been dating for last year Helen, why is it suddenly hitting home for you?"_

 _Helen: "Soph, stop, I'm warning you."_

 _Sophia: "I want to know Helen. Why now?"_

 _Helen: "Stop!"_

 _Helen strikes out blindly towards Sophia, filled with anger/grief/loathing. Her swing is wild and fast, leaving without a shadow of a doubt that it would hurt whatever it struck. Calmly Sophia reaches out and grabs her wrist inches before it reaches her face. Helen looks up, horrified and miserable._

 _Helen: "Soph! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean…"_

 _Sophia: "I know Helen, and that's the only reason I'm not walking out of this room right now. I'm your best friend Helen. I know you and I know how you are and more importantly right now I understand this…thing you have. Remember what Dr. Grace told you, you have to talk, to let this out. Keep it in too long and you'll explode."_

 _Helen's face falls and she crumbles visibly into Sophia's arms. Sophia is surprised because this is one of the very few times she's seen her best friend vulnerable and more so the first time the blond girl has ever willingly taken comfort from her._

 _Helen: [sobbing] "I could handle it before because if I didn't see it I could pretend. For some reason Arthur never brought it up or never put it in my face. But I saw them Sophia. I saw them. They were… [ she pauses, takes a stuttering breath]_

 _Helen: "The look on his face, it was too much. He'll never look at me that way Soph, never."_

 _Helen buries her face into Sophia's shoulder and cries, heavy sobs that sound like the girl's heart is being ripped from her chest. Sophia closes her eyes and holds her sobbing friend, one hand stroking the blond hair, ignoring the wetness on her shirt._

 _S2E3 "Double Dare"_

* * *

"Good morning bitches!" Anne called out as she sailed onto the large sound stage. Several of the other actors waved or nodded in her direction. She walked past the curtains leading to the sets and headed towards the red headed teen sitting by the far wall reading through a script. Ariel looked up gratefully as Anne handed her the second to-go cup in her hand.

"Caramel latte, God love you!" She cheered taking the cup and taking a tentative sip. Anne sat down next to her and peered at the script.

"You're welcome, what's the damage?"

"Not bad so far?" Ariel answered handing it to her. Anne scanned through the pages quickly.

"Senior year, you think people would learn by now."

Ariel snickered. "Did we?"

Anne shrugged in agreement as she handed back the script. "I'm hoping there's a couple of good scenes with Allen this season."

Ariel raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Because he's cute?"

"He's cute, but his Theodore cracks me up. I love scenes between our characters, there's so much heat."

A snort of amusement caught the girls' attention and they both looked up. Tad was walking past them, coffee mug in one hand, a copy of the script in the other. Anne and Ariel shared an amused look.

"Tad!" Anne called out as he passed. "When are you two putting Brooke and Theo together?"

Tad's stepped slowed and he turned to look down at the two teens. "What?"

Anne grinned. "Brooke and Theo. They're getting together by the end, right? They're both the best kind of crazy together."

He raised an eyebrow. "Have you been reading the fan fiction again?"

Anne wrinkled her nose. "Ew, no. There's just something weird about reading about yourself. Besides I don't agree with the small camp that think Brooke and Arthur should get together."

He barked out a laugh. "First, let me tell you that that is never going to happen in the span of this television series. Second, how many times am I going to have to insist that Brooke and Theo are never getting together? It'll never be anything but fanon."

Anne looked so distraught Tad had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling at her.

"Well that's just depressing." Ariel stated.

"So is real life girls, we only persevere." He left them talking about who would end up with who and headed towards Helga who was already sitting in her chair with her highlighter and pen, scratching out and remarking scenes for the next episode.

"I have to add an entire scene in episode three to counteract the party episode from last season since I was just informed that there is an entire subgroup that think Helen and Theo are secretly dating."

Tad snickered as he sat down in his chair next to her. "They would go great with the subgroup that thinks Brooke and Arthur should hook up."

Helga stopped writing on the script and she slowly looked up at a grinning Tad, a look a horror on her face. "They what?"

"Yep." He confirmed. "Although our Brooke is becoming a rather insistent advocate for Brooke and Theo getting a happy ending."

Helga was silent for a moment and then peered at him curiously. "I was thinking of adding in one of the maybe scenes to this season. Perhaps an oddly placed don't-know-who's-having-it dream sequence in a later episode could be attempted. Just to shut Anne up."

He grinned at her mischievously. "I'll agree if you do one for Arthur and Helen too."

She eyed him for a moment, biting her lip. "It can be an entire shake-things-up dream episode with an awkward next morning." She looked back down at her script and jotted a note. "We can put it around the holiday episodes."

His eye was caught by a couple of the other actors entering the sound stage. He smiled at two.

"It seems our Arthur and Helen are together."

Helga snorted. "Not happening. Be happy with the dream sequence."

"No. **Our** Arthur and Helen."

Helga glanced up in time to spot the blond male actor bend slightly to whisper something in Rebecca's ear. The girl smiled and they shared a look before parting and moving to their own separate areas.

"Shit, this might complicate things."

"Not necessarily." Tad argued. "It could make Helen's performance even better. We just have to make sure their personal life stays personal, at least for this last year."

Helga nodded. "I'll talk to them."

Tad snorted. "Let me listen in because that's going to be an interesting conversation."

* * *

Arnold had taken the day off of work in order to do more cleaning and packing. Between work and Daphne's extracurricular activities and everything else that took up too much of his time, there never seemed to be enough time to fully clean the house and finish packing up the things left in the house when Lila abandoned them.

With Daphne still in school for her last week before summer vacation, the house was quiet as he moved around it. Too quiet. He walked into the living room and turned on the television just for some background noise as he cleaned and packed.

He spent the morning packing up box after box of stuff Lila had bought during their marriage or things she'd left behind. Harold had offered to come by over the weekend and help him cart away the boxes to the local donation site and he wanted them all packed and ready. He walked up and down the upstairs hallway carrying boxes to the garage and back. Each time he passed Daphne's room with her open door and a flash of color would catch his vision.

It was early afternoon when he deposited the final box into the garage. Wiping his hands, he headed back upstairs to wash his hands and move some of his own things around. Walking past Daphne's bedroom door, he slowed and poked his head in. Her room looked like any other teenage girl's room; clothes on the bed, posters on the wall, an annoying amount of neon colors.

On the right side of her room was a poster depicting a large group of kids sitting in what looked like a coffee shop. Arnold stepped into the room realizing this was what kept catching his attention every time he'd walked by. Above the group were the words Ever After. Right below was the tag line: Not every story has a happy ending.

"That's kind of depressing." He murmured, studying the picture. There was something nagging him about the teens in the poster but he couldn't put his finger on it. The blond boy wearing the baseball cap with his arms around the red haired girl made him frown. He wasn't sure what the appeal of this show was or why his daughter and her friends were in absolute adoration of this show. Teens were supposed to like happy endings, almost every show and movie boasted some sort of favorable ending, barring horror movies but even most of them had some sort of favorable temporary outcome. Why would a show that boasts that it might not have a happy ending be so popular?

Shaking his head, he left the room and headed back downstairs. He could hear the television in the living room and he walked down the stairs.

" _I heard he punched out Tyler."_

" _People like that are always jealous."_

" _Yeah, but I heard from Sarah, who was told by Jana who heard it from Rick who was in the kitchen when it happened, he knocked Tyler out. Like on the ground, hit his head against the bench knocked out. Like Aaron found him hours later still unconscious knocked out. How romantic is that?"_

Arnold stopped and took a step backwards to peer at the television. Two girls were walking down a school hallway talking. The camera panned upwards to a couple; a blond girl and a dark haired boy standing at the railing on the stairway leading to the second floor watching the two girls pass. The blond gave the dark haired boy a grin.

" _Congratulations, you're popular by proxy."_

 _The boy snorted and rolled his eyes pushing off the railing and continuing their trek upstairs. Undaunted the girl continued._

" _But she heard it from Sarah, who heard it from some other chick who heard it from a dude who might have been in the house so of course it must be true."_ Her voice had a mocking lit and Arnold found himself drifting into the living room to watch the show. He knew what it was, recognized the two teens from his daughter's poster _._

" _So that makes me a superhero somehow? I don't think so. Doesn't anyone have anything else to talk about?"_

" _Nope, you're pretty much the biggest thing that happened this weekend, unless you count Tiffany in home econ getting her braces off."_

" _See now that's exciting."_

" _For Tiffany maybe, no one else cares. It's all you Theo."_

 _The two walked into a classroom and took desks next to each other in the back of the class._

" _It shouldn't be all about me. It should be about the fact that that entitled ass felt it was okay to take advantage of a drunk woman? What kind of man does that?"_

 _The camera pans to the seat in front of Theo and a red haired girl turned in her seat. "Most men do that. You're the weird one."_

" _If it's weird to respect a woman when she can't make an informed decision then I wear the mantle proudly." He retorted. Beside him the blond girl rolled her eyes and pointedly turned her attention to her books. Theo gives the blond a sly look before looking back at the redhead._

" _You can't tell me that Arthur would think it was okay to try and bang a drunk girl."_

 _Beside him the blonde's arm tenses but she says nothing. The redhead huffs in annoyance._

" _Arthur's weird like that too. But any normal guy would go for it. She should really be more careful."_

 _Theo stares in disbelief. "Lisa, it's not the responsibility of women to have to be careful at a party. It's the responsibility of men to quit thinking that everything on this Earth is only for our personal pleasure."_

 _Lisa rolls her eyes and turns back around in her seat. Theo stares at the back of her head for a moment before turning a disbelieving look to the blond who shrugs in exasperation._

Arnold was still in the living room watching Ever After when Daphne walked into the house.

"I'm home!" she yelled as she dropped her bag onto the kitchen table. She walked through the room towards the living room and the sound of the television. "What are you doing?"

He turned around as she stepped into the living room and turned back to the TV. "I've never really sat down and watched an entire episode of this show."

Coming around the couch, she sat down next to her dad. "How many have you watched?"

"Three. In no particular order. I have to say, I get it. Maybe not as crazed as you and the other three are but there something about this show that drags you in."

Daphne grinned happily. "That's what I've been trying to tell you. It's a good show."

"It doesn't shy away from issues either. In three shows there's been under-age drinking, sexism and peer pressure. With the added bonus of not having the kids jump into bed every episode."

Her grin turned calculating. "I have the first two seasons in my room. We could watch them?"

"I'll order pizza." He agreed. Daphne squealed, bussing a kiss on her father's cheek before jumping up and running upstairs.


	6. Chapter Five

_Scene: party at Brooke's house. Theodore makes his way through the bodies of his classmate, all underage, all drinking and dancing. He steps over the bodies of three passed out girls he knows are freshmen, eyeing them to make sure they're not in any danger._

 _Around him teens are dancing and talking, most of them holding a red cup. He nods towards some teens, raises a hand to wave to others._

 _He steps outside into the backyard where the yard is mostly empty at this late time. Close up of him breathing deeply in relief of the emptiness of the yard. In the near distance, the soft sound of someone groaning. Theodore looked towards the heavily shaded area beyond the messy deck and begins to walk towards the sound. As he grows closer the sound of tired, slurred, murmured protests grows louder. It is obvious from Theodore's face that recognizes the voice. His steps hurry quicker towards that area, and as he comes around a gazebo, he stumbles upon a senior boy holding down a weakly, drunken Brooke, who is trying to slap at the boy but is too drunk to make any difference. The boy looks up and Theodore recognizes him as the jock Brooke has been flirting with all night._

 _Jock: "This is a private party."_

 _Theodore: "I think the lady is saying no."_

 _Jock: "What are you, her bodyguard?"_

 _Theodore: "Maybe. Let her go. If she wants to hook up, trust me, she'll find you when she's sober."_

 _Jock: "Get out of here loser. We're busy."_

 _Beneath the Jock, Brook pushes at his chest in a poor attempt to push him off of her._

 _Brooke: "G'off."_

 _Theodore steps forward and grabs the jock by the collar of his shirt and yanks hard. The Jock drunkenly stumbles backwards and off of Brooke who falls off the bench to the concrete floor of the gazebo. Jock straightened and glares angrily at Theodore._

 _Jock: "What's your problem asshole?"_

 _Theodore: "The lady said no. Respect it."_

 _Jock: [snorts drunkenly and tries to push past Theodore to reach a now heaving Brooke] "Screw off."_

 _Theodore: "Leave her alone."_

 _Jock pushes past Theodore and reaches down to grab Brooke up by the arm. Brook heaves again and throws up. Jock lets her go in disgust._

 _Jock: "Bitch! These are new shoes."_

 _Jock reaches to grab Brook again and Theodore grabs his hand._

 _Theodore: "Leave. Now."_

 _Jock pulls away and cocks back a hand. Theodore punches jock hard in the face. Jock stumbles drunkenly backwards and trips over Brooke who is still kneeling on the ground. He falls backwards hitting his back against the wooden bench and slumping towards the ground._

 _Theodore watches the jock to make sure he isn't getting up before reaching down and helping Brooke up. Brooke slaps at his hand drunkenly._

 _Brooke: "G'way."_

 _Theodore: "Come on goddess, let's get you into the house."_

 _Brooke peers drunkenly at him._

 _Brooke: "Teddy?"_

 _Theodore: [rolls eyes] "You know you're the only person I'll allow to call me that. Let's get you sobered up sweetheart."_

 _Brooke: [makes face} "Teddy, gonna…"_

 _Theodore stops and moved her towards grass as Brook throws up again, gagging and straining against his arms. He waits until she is finished before helping her straightened up. Brooke wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and leans against Theodore and they walk back towards the house._

 _Brooke: "Don't feel good."_

 _Theodore: "I guess not."_

 _Brooke: "Ya' nice to me. Why?"_

 _Theodore wraps an arm around her shoulder as he maneuvers them into the house and through the teens still awake._

 _Theodore: "Not now goddess. If you still want to have this talk when you sober up, let me know."_

 _S2E7 "Homecoming Week"_

* * *

The first week of run through's were going rather well, Tad thought as he walked into the house. After an hour or two of catching up, the kids were surprisingly ready to get down to work and start practicing on the final season. His only worry was Helga not showing up for the last two days to practice. And he knew it was bad when the kids start asking after her.

He heard the music echoing through the house before he shut the front door and his heart clenched. New he knew why she hadn't been to work for the last two days.

For years that particular song hadn't been allowed to be played in Helga's presence. She had walked out of establishments if the song came over the speakers, channels were changed in the car. He'd gotten very good at recognizing the song by the first three notes over the years.

So for that song to be voluntarily played in this house, much less in her office could only mean one thing.

Hurrying up the stairs to the third floor and her office, where the music was growing louder. He ran into her room and stopped, staring at Helga. The blond was sitting at her desk staring blindly at the computer screen, her fingers poised over the keyboard but not moving.

Stepping into the room carefully so as not to startle her, he crept towards her desk. Her eyes flicked up from the computer screen to his face before returning to the screen. It was quick but not quick enough that he hadn't caught sight of her red puffy eyes.

Dammit.

"Helga…" he began. She shook her head sharply to cut him off.

"We agreed we were going to do this. I just need to write it." Her voice was hard, but he could hear the underlying of emotion in her tone. She was holding herself together by shear will, just as she had always done.

"But does it need to be done now?" He asked walking behind the desk and sliding his hands across her shoulders. They were tense, almost rock hard. "Helga, you've been locked up in this room for two days. I know you have the first part written, possibly even the second half…"

"I can't write that until…" she cleared her throat and continued. "I need to finish this first."

"Do you need me to call Jennifer?" He asked, referring to her therapist. "Just in case?"

"I can do this." Her voice was frantic, bordering on hysterical.

"You're going to break just like last time. Helga, I need you. I can't do this without you. We have a deal."

Her fingers tensed for just a moment and then she crumpled. Her head bowed forward, her shoulders shaking. Tad leaned forward, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, his cheek resting on her shoulder as he held her.

They were still for a moment, her soft sobs mixed with the music playing on the sound system.

"Let me do this." He whispered in her ear. "Let me write this part. You can't, you're too close. I remember…" he swallowed hard before continuing. "I can write it the way it needs to be written. You can finish it tomorrow. Please Helga, take some medicine and go sleep. It'll be ready in the morning.

She nodded jerkily and he kissed the top of her head before releasing her so she could stand. Watching her stand and leave the office; head still bowed, her posture defeated and tired, he waited until she left completely before taking the seat she just vacated and staring at the screen. Helga was strong, there was nothing she couldn't overcome, couldn't defeat. But this one thing broke her-really broke her. Watching it play out on stage was going to be bad enough, reliving it piece by piece to write down was nothing but torture. He couldn't see her hurt like that again. Scanning over what she had written, he began typing easily picking up the stage direction and the flow of the story. Just because he wasn't as close to it as her doesn't mean he wasn't there…didn't see…didn't hurt. But for one moment, he would gladly hurt for her.

* * *

Arnold was on his front porch pulling the mail from his mailbox when his cell phone rang. He had to juggle the mail and keys to pull it from his pocket. He finally got a hold of it and hit the answer button.

"He'o," he answered, his mouth holding an envelope or two. Juggling again to get his keys untangled from his satchel he unlocked the front door and used his elbow to turn the doorknob and his hip to nudge the door open. On the other end his daughter laughed.

"What are you doing?"

"'Iing t'ge' 'n a 'oor." He tried to speak before giving up. Yanking the keys from the door, he dropped them on the table next to the door and shut the door with his hip so he could take the mail from his mouth. "I said, I was trying to get in the door."

"You got the mail in your mouth again?" she asked. He could hear the chastisement in her voice.

"My hands were full and I can promise it's slobber free."

"Ewww dad, gross!" she exclaimed. "I'm calling to tell you that Mrs. Montague and Ronnie came by and picked me up for ice cream and a serious discussion of how Ronnie and I are going to survive the summer without Lyss and Izzy."

"That's overdramatic." He slid his satchel from his shoulder as he stepped into the kitchen. Placing his satchel onto the table, he began going through the mail.

"Possibly," she agreed. "But ice cream makes everything better."

He smiled as he pulled a manila envelope from the stack addressed to Daphne. "Did you send out applications to colleges in California?"

"What? No, it's too far away."

Reading the return address, his eyes widened with realization. "Oh." He deadpanned, unwilling to give away the surprise over the phone. "Never mind then, have fun with the girls."

"Wait, Dad, who's it from?"

"Um…it doesn't say. You'll have to wait until you get home to open it. Have fun!"

He clicked the end button before she could ask again. He knew they wouldn't be out long. When it came to mysteries, she was too much like him. They both hated the not knowing.

* * *

As he anticipated, Daphne came rushing through the door before a full hour had passed. What did surprise him was Veronica following close behind his daughter and a moment more before a timid knock on the door was followed by Rhonda stepping into the house.

"Hello?" she called out.

"In here!" he yelled from the kitchen. Daphne raced into the kitchen, eyes wide and her face expectant.

"Where is it?" she asked, breathlessly. He handed her the manila envelope and looked at Rhonda as she ripped it open. The once haughty fashionista of their high school was standing in his kitchen in a floral print dress and her hair pushed back by a band looking on amused at the situation. She spotted his questioning look and grinned.

"They were discussing it during ice cream and the only thing Daphne could come up with was the contest she entered for Ever After." Rhonda explained.

"I'd forgotten about that."

The envelope had fallen to the floor forgotten as Daphne and Veronica read the letter enclosed. The raven haired girl's eyes widened in excitement a beat before Daphne's. Then both girls began screaming and jumping up and down in the kitchen startling both parents.

"Whoa!" Arnold tried to yell above the screaming.

"I won! I won! I won!" Daphne screamed still jumping. Veronica clutched Daphne's hands jumping with her.

"Oh my god!" she screamed in excitement.

Rhonda crossed the room as Arnold tried to wrest the letter from his excited daughter's hands. Finally, he pulled it away and read it, Rhonda reading over his shoulder. As they read, both girls stopped screaming and jumping and settled for crying and hugging.

"Wow." Rhonda said impressed. "The grand prize. Congratulations Daphne." She gave Arnold a sly look. "You sure her mother is Lila?"

Arnold nudged the woman with his shoulder. "Hey, I write."

"I can't believe I know someone who's going to meet Allen Adams." Veronica sobbed, pulling away from Daphne. "I'm so excited. I want pictures and autographs!"

"Anderson West." Daphne said. The girls looked at each other and let out another scream and began sobbing again. Arnold looking at Rhonda helplessly. She merely waved her hand.

"They're going to be like this for a bit, let them go."

Arnold went back to reading the letter and corresponding forms as the teens collected themselves.

"Looks like I'll be making some phone calls to California and faxing forms for the next week." He said dryly.

* * *

He waited until the next time Lila came to pick up Daphne before telling her about the contest. She had apologized for jumping to conclusions as to why he was at her house the night of the break in but she hadn't as of yet apologized for leaving Daphne alone at home to be in the position to be trapped in the house during a break in. He figured that alone would get earn him less fighting time when he told her about Daphne's winnings.

He was completely wrong.

She stood in the living room scanning the forms Arnold had handed her after explaining what had happened. Finally, she looked at Arnold handing the forms back to him.

"I can't possibly allow you to take her out of state. What if you stay? What am I supposed to do?"

Arnold's jaw dropped in disbelief. It took him a minute to come up with an actual response.

"Are you serious?" he finally got out. "My job is here, Daphne's school and friends are here, I'm not going to suddenly drop everything and stay in California because Daphne won a contest. For cripe's sake Lila, it's only five days and four nights!"

"Don't yell at me." Lila snapped. "I wouldn't put it past you to pull something like that. I can't trust you."

"If I remember correctly, it's not me that's untrustworthy." He bit out.

"Oh sure, bring up the past." She shook the papers again. "Take them back, I'm not signing the permission slip. Take me to court if you want."

"No!" In a flash, Daphne ran into the living room and planted herself in front of her mother, her green eyes flashing in anger. "No! You're going to sign these papers! This is a once in a lifetime chance for me and you're not going to ruin it because you're mad at Daddy!"

Lila took a step back, looking surprised for a moment before giving her daughter a reproachful look.

"Don't you talk to me that way young lady. Honestly, if this is your father teaching you it's perfectly okay to disrespect me then I'm…"

"This is you always wanting to get your way." Daphne spat out, furious. "You left us, you're the one who takes us to court every month for minor things, you're the one who wants weekends with me and spends then all at parties with strange men and leaves me at home until the early hours. You'll sign these permission papers Mom, or so help me God, the next time you drag us to court I'll tell the judge everything!"

The room was silent save Daphne's harsh breathing. Lila looked from her daughter to Arnold, a look of anger in her eyes.

"You're going to let her talk to me like that?" she demanded.

Arnold shrugged. "She's sixteen."

She looked back to Daphne. "I'm not comfortable with you going alone."

"I'm not going alone." Daphne shot back. "I'm going with Dad and if her mom lets her, Ronnie."

"Oh, is Ronnie's mother going too?" The sneer was almost visible in Lila's tone.

"Oh for Christ sake." Arnold sighed, frustrated. Daphne yanked the papers from Lila's hand and shook them at her.

"Sign the forms Mom. If you make me miss this, I swear to God, I will never forgive you.

"I'm not…"

"Then come with us, I don't care! It's a trip for four anyway!" Daphne exploded. "Just sign the forms!"

Lila snatched the forms from Daphne's hand and pulling out a pen she sat down in the closest chair and signed all the appropriate forms. Glaring she handed the papers back to Daphne.

"I expect to be informed as to the dates and accommodations afforded to us for this ridiculous trip." She snapped. Daphne grabbed the papers, looking them all over.

"As soon as we get them, I'll let you know." She answered, scanning the papers. Standing up, Lila pushed back a strand of her hair shooting a glare towards Arnold.

"Well, given the circumstances, perhaps we should postpone your weekend with me until you can learn better manners." She picked up her purse and strode from the house, the door slamming in her wake. Arnold looked over at his daughter who was still scanning the papers.

"You shouldn't have spoken to your mother like that." He chastised.

Daphne finally looked up from the papers. "I've stayed out of the way and followed the rules for two years. She owes me."

"You ran her out of the house."

He wasn't sure if he was scared or proud of the small grin that followed her retort. "That's just a bonus."

"Yeah, but in your anger you also sort of invited her to come with us." He pointed out. Her grin faded.

"Crap." She muttered.

* * *

Rhonda Wellington-Lloyd was beautiful, rich, and popular in high school. If one were truthful, she was all of those things before she reached high school. But few people knew the true Rhonda; that she had to get glasses in fourth grade and within a week got contacts. She was the first girl in their middle school to get Lasik. That she was poor for a month due to a computer glitch at her father's bank. Living from hand to mouth poor until her father's finances were researched and the error was found. That underneath the supposed cold and haughty exterior, Rhonda was actually warm, caring and loyal. All traits that were put to the test when Rhonda and her daughter left her now ex-husband to return to Hillwood in supposed "disgrace" and filed for divorce. She never told anyone what happened, no matter how many speculated. Instead of moving in with her parents, she bought a small house in one of the newer neighborhoods and got a job as a buyer for one of the major department stores in the area. Veronica Montague was as quiet and inverted as her mother was outgoing and haughty at her age. The raven-haired teen was perfectly content to sit with her other three friends preferring to listen to them rather than be the center of attention. She wore wire frame glasses, refusing Lasik and could usually be found with a book in her possession most of the time.

The most Arnold had ever heard the raven-haired teen say was the afternoon when Daphne found out she won the contest.

Now both girls were in Daphne's room, while Rhonda was sitting in the kitchen with Arnold. She read over the forms with a trained eye.

"This is an awful lot Arnold." She finally said, putting down the forms. "I can't afford this trip. God knows Veronica would keel over if I said yes, but there's no way…"

"You don't have to pay for anything." Arnold assured her. "The studio is picking up everything. I've already talked to Meagan, the PR assistant who's in charge of this entire thing. The flights, the hotel room, the studio tour, everything is being picked up by the studio. The girls even get two meals with the cast. The only thing we'd have to pay for is a couple of meals and souvenirs. I'm sure both girls are not opposed to fast food or snacks on the go." He chuckled. "Hell, I'll be lucky if I can get them to remember to eat period."

She rested her chin on her hand. "And Lila?"

Arnold rolled his eyes. "After she calmed down from her tantrum, she realized it was in her best interest to stop bitching about this trip. Apparently the company found out about the upcoming trip and asked if she'd be willing to work from their Los Angeles office a couple of days. They're letting her use one of their penthouses so of course now she's happy."

Rhonda laughed lightly pulling back. "Was I ever that bad?"

"You were pretty bad back in high school." He teased. "But I'm not sure anyone is as bad as her now."

"So how's Andrew?" she asked, a hint of the haughtiness creeping into her tone. "Or is it William now, I can never keep up."

He blew out a breath. "I think she's in-between boyfriends right now. Maybe she'll find a new one in Los Angeles and leave us alone."

"It is nice when they finally leave you alone." She agreed.

"I'm sorry, will you have to get Dashell's signature for this or…"

She shook her head, interrupting him. "No. Dash got the house, the cars, the vacation home and I got Ronnie. It was more than a fair trade." She pursed her lips looking down at the forms once more before picking up the pen and signing her name to them.

"You are the most trustworthy person I know Arnold. I would never trust my daughter to anyone else."

He smiled, reaching over to pat her hand. "Thank you. That means a lot. And it's going to mean more when you tell Ronnie where she's going."

Standing up, he walked towards the stairs and yelled up from the bottom. "Girls!"

A moment later there was a commotion as two teens ran down the stairs and into the kitchen where their parents were.

"What's up?" Daphne asked.

Arnold nodded to her. "Go ahead."

Daphne's eyes widened as Veronica looked at everyone nervously.

"Seriously?"

"What's going on?"

Rhonda nodded and Daphne grinned. She turned Veronica and grabbed her arm.

"You're going with me to California." She said, excitement bubbling in her voice. Veronica frowned.

"What?"

"Your mom signed the papers. You're going to L.A with me to meet the cast of Ever After and possibly get a walk on part."

Veronica's eyes went wide and she looked at her mother. Rhonda gave her a smile.

"Have fun sweetheart."

Veronica burst into tears and ran over to hug her mother. Daphne did a little happy dance.

"I'm so excited!" she announced.


	7. Chapter Six

AN: I'm only posting one chapter this week because the second half starts with the next chapter and I don't want to keep anyone hanging…any more than they already are. Thank you all so much for sticking with me this far and I hope the second half of this story catches you as much as the first half did.

* * *

 _Scene: Party at Brooke's house. It's obvious from the state of the living room that it has been going on for a couple of hours. Student's mill about in various staged of drunkenness. In the background the roars and yells of students rise and fall depending on what happens to be happening out in the backyard by the pool._

 _Helen is picking her way through the throng of dunk and half unconscious students to make her way upstairs for some peace and quiet._

 _Upstairs is quieter, the music and cheers muffled as she makes her way towards one of Brooke's guest bedrooms. Stopping to knock first…just in case, she opens the door and peeks in. The room is dark but she doesn't hear any noises or see any movements and decides it's safe to hide out for a bit._

 _Once the door closes it is quiet. She picks her way towards the bed, stopping only once to reach for the desk lamp to throw some light into the room._

 _The light is turned on and a muffled groan comes from the bed. Helen jumps, trying to fight back a scream that come out as a Eep! A movement from the bed and Arthur's drunken face peers blearily towards her._

 _Arthur: [obviously drunk] "No light. Please."_

 _Helen: "Sorry!"_

 _She doesn't turn off the light but moves the lamp so the light is cast towards the wall, turning the room into a shadowed room of shapes and figures. She steps towards the bed hesitantly as he rolls to his back, an arm flung over his eyes._

 _Helen: "Are you drunk?"_

 _Arthur: [tried to snort but ends up coughing] "Maybe. Yeah. Does it matter?"_

 _Helen: "Actually, I couldn't care less, but as a rule, you're usually the responsible one."_

 _Arthur: "And that gets me so far in this world. Screw responsible, it's done nothing for me."_

 _Helen: [steps tentatively towards the bed and carefully sits on the edge of it.] "This isn't you. What happened? Or are you just a depressing philosophical drunk?"_

 _Arthur: [struggles to sit up and finally succeeds. He fixes her with a bleary stare] "Lisa and I got into a fight. She called me boring and I told her to go to hell."_

 _Helen bites the inside of her cheek to keep from barking out a laugh. Arthur doesn't notice._

 _Arthur: "She tells me she likes reliable, that she feels safe with us, that I make her feel safe. And then I find her flirting with other guys and she tells me she needs a little excitement." He flails one hand about. "To hell with excitement! I can be exciting. I can be impulsive."_

 _Helen: "So…to prove to her you could be exciting, you got drunk?"_

 _Arthur: "I didn't think I was that drunk. I had a couple and when I stood up to find her, the room started spinning. So I came up here to lay down for a bit."_

 _Helen: [grinning] "Lightweight."_

 _Arthur: [groaning as he lays back down] "I can't do this anymore. I should go home."_

 _Helen: "You're not going anywhere in this condition. Your Aunt and Uncle would kill you. Just try to sleep some of the drunk off and before I leave, I'll find Marcus and have him get you before he goes home. Soph is at home anyway, it's not like he's getting any tonight."_

 _Arthur: [eyes close and chuckles lightly] "You're the boss Helen."_

 _Helen: "Damn right I am. If you'd just listen to me more often."_

 _S2E7 Homecoming Week_

* * *

Helga was looking better, Tad mused as he cast surreptitious glances towards the blond while they were filming the first episode of the final season. After a Xanax and some sleep, she'd woken up the next afternoon and thanks to Tad writing the main scene, she had the final episode finished by that evening. Granted she had locked herself in the room and hadn't come out until it was finished, then taking another Xanax and sleeping most of the next day but it was over and she was moving past it. Although he was seriously considering making her take one on the days they filmed the actual episode. Writing it was one thing and that was bad enough, watching it play out all over again on stage was quite another. He made a mental note to call Jennifer and let her know to set an appointment for Helga the day of shooting for that particular episode.

"When is this contest winner supposed to show up?" Helga asked absently, scratching out a stage direction and rewriting it.

Tad looked over her shoulder at what she was writing and then flipped to his own script.

"If you stage him over there, we'll have to move the cheerleaders." He mentioned. She huffed a sigh and erased what she'd written. She looked up and did a quick study of the set before her before leaving him where he was and merely changing his attitude of standing.

"I'm not sure. Megan is taking care of all of that." Tad continued, nodding at her change. "Morris needs to be a little more fabulous in this scene. It's his freaking big break."

She nodded and looked around the set, finally spotting Derrick and pointing at him. He and Sarah walked towards them.

"Yeah boss?" the lanky red-haired actor asked.

"Amp it up in the next scene." Helga said. "This is Morris' big chance, the chance that earns him every dream he's ever wanted. This is his happily ever after."

"And Sarah, you need to push him." Tad added. "This scene is pivotal to your storylines. I expect you both to bring me to tears."

Derrick laughed nervously. "No pressure, huh?"

"Welcome back kiddos." Tad teased. "You can do this. You've lived Morris for three years already, you know how he thinks. This is your episode."

Sarah leaned over, putting her hands on Derrick's arm for support and smiling at the two adults. "No worries, we've got this. You're both going to be sobbing like babies when we're finished."

Derrick groaned good naturedly as Sarah pulled him off towards make-up.

"To bring us back to your initial question, I think it's next week. It's not like we have to write anything, it's just a walk on part." Tad said.

"That's the thing. I might want to write a line or two for her depending." Helga studied the set as she spoke. "I'll know more the first time I talk to her and the parents but if I do, I need more than an hour's notice that this kid is showing up."

Tad typed out a text message to Megan in PR to ask when the contest winners were showing up as Helga wrote on the back of her script. It wasn't unusual for ideas for upcoming episodes to pop in her head during rehearsal or shooting. Even something as big as an added scene or as small as a stage direction could change the flow of the show. And from the beginning the show had become a living, breathing thing. The kids all knew that everything they did up to filming could be changed within a day's notice. He got a response from Megan right before the next scene was about to be called.

"She says next week." He whispered as the stage lights popped on.

Helga nodded, putting down her script and watching the actors take their places.

* * *

Filming had wrapped up for the week and the only people left in the studios were the post production staff gathering everything up to take back to the studios to splice together. Rebecca had left her cell phone and was praying that it was still where she left it. She hurried through the dimly lit studio, towards the trailers where the actors stored their things during scenes. She opened the door and climbing the stairs giving a huge sigh of relief when she spotted her phone on the counter right where she'd left it that afternoon. Snatching it up, she climbed out of the trailer and shut the door, preparing to leave when the snatches of piano music caught her attention.

Holding her phone, she stopped, listening to the voice now accompanying the piano. Walking towards the music, she pulled back one of the heavy curtains to walk backstage where the props were stored.

Sitting on the bench Helga's fingers ran over the keyboard while she softly sang what Rebecca recognized was a Vanessa Carlton song. She listened flabbergasted. Her character played the piano and she had to learn one or two songs in order to play on the show but she didn't know their executive producer/writer could play as well. While the woman's voice wasn't clear or pitch perfect, the depth of emotion she pulled out of the song more than made up for a few warbled notes. Rebecca shoved her phone into her back pocket fascinated at listening to the woman sing.

Who had broken her heart so completely that it still came through when she sang? The final notes finished and Helga sat there a moment in silence. Rebecca clapped lightly and the blond woman spun around in her seat.

"Aren't you supposed to be out of here?"

"I left my phone in the trailer." Rebecca explained, stepping closer to the piano and the woman. Helga swiped at her eyes as she stood up and Rebecca frowned. "You okay Hel?"

"I'm fine. Just memories." She picked up her satchel and motioned towards the exit. "Come on, let's enjoy our weekend. Next week is going to be full up with PR, contest winners and a new script."

She walked out with Helga, waving at the older woman as they parted ways. She waited until she was in her car before pulling out her phone and calling Anderson.

"Hello?"

"Andy it's me." She said. "Can you come over tonight?"

"For you? Anything." He teased. "What's going on?"

She looked out her car window towards the direction she saw Helga walk earlier. "I'm not quite sure our television show is completely fictional." She told him.

* * *

"Have you ever watched the show?"

The two adults were sitting on the living room couch as the two teen girls were animatedly talking upstairs about what to take the next day to California. Their door was open and the two adults could hear bits of the enthusiastic conversation from the main floor. Rhonda shrugged.

"Every week in the beginning, until she started coming over here. Now I watch it the next day with her." Another shrug. "It's actually a pretty good show."

I'll be honest, I didn't get it in the beginning. But then it's not geared towards me either. I caught one episode by accident while Daphne wasn't home and ended up watching three in a row. Since then I've seen the first two seasons."

She smiled knowingly. "The third season isn't out on DVD yet."

"I wasn't sure why everyone was in love with a show that pretty much announces that there aren't going to be happy endings."

"Did any of us ever get our happy endings, Arnold?" Rhonda asked.

"Harold and Patty."

She sighed. "If any two people deserved a happy ending, it was those two. But they're the minority. Not very many people got the happily ever after they were searching for in high school. You and I sure the hell didn't."

"But we did get awesome consolations prizes."

She laughed. "That we did." Her smile faded slowly. "I admit, I rather like the show. It's almost like coming home. I don't know who Inane Zebra are but they're damn brilliant at their portrayals of teens. Not like half the other shows on there where the so-called teens are all prancing around in Prada shoes and having threesomes. It's much more…real. And I have to admit, there are some episode I relate to very much."

"Which ones?"

Another laugh. "Let's just say there are times I can understand Brooke. And there are other times when I just want to take that girl by the shoulders and shake her. To be that young and naive again." She touched his shoulder as she stood up. "Well, I'd better get home and enjoy my new found quiet time. Have Ronnie call me when you guys get there okay?"

"I'm sure you'll have photos every moment." He teased standing up after her.

The two teens raced down the stairs as Rhonda headed towards the door and Veronica ran to her mother to hug her.

"Thank you." She said. Rhonda gazed at her daughter before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Have fun sweetheart and be careful."

"I will."

Waving good bye again, Rhonda left the house. Arnold shut the door and turned back to the two girls.

"I think it's about time to wrap up and get ready for bed in a bit." He told them. "Tomorrow's a big day."

* * *

After weeks of phone and text arguments with Lila, the day was here. When the passes for the studio tour came in the mail it caused another argument.

"I don't care what you do the remainder of the trip but for that first day put Daphne ahead of you for a change. Take the freaking tour and be there when she gets her first glimpse of this show. After that you can do whatever the hell you want. But if studio executives are willing to fork out money for plane tickets and studio tours the least you can do is go on it once."

As he shuffled two excited yet tired girls out to Gerald's waiting car, he was wondering if Lila would make the flight. Half of him wished she wouldn't. He'd given her a plane ticket the week before so it wasn't like they had to wait for her.

Gerald glanced back at the two yawning teens in the back seat and then Arnold as she shut the passenger door.

"Ready for the glitz and glamour of Hollywood?" he teased.

"More like jeans and tourist tee shirts." Arnold replied. "I'm going to be the back woods boy with the two hysterical fan girls in that studio."

"That's not true," Gerald said as he pulled away from the curb and onto the street. "I'm sure there will be other tourist parents with hysterical fan girls on the tour also."

The two men chatted quietly as the two girls fell asleep on each other while Gerald navigated the highways to get them to Newark Liberty Airport. "You think Lila is going to show up?" Gerald asked quietly after taking another glance in the rearview mirror to look into the back seat.

"I don't know and honestly I don't care." Arnold sighed, looking out the car window. "What happened Gerald?"

The man's hands tightened on the steering wheel for only a moment, then he shook his head. "Don't know my man. The fates are a bunch of evil bitches who like nothing more than to screw with everyone and cackle at the outcome."

Arnold turned away from the window to blink at his best friend. It was the closest he'd ever come to referencing their Senior year in…well, since ever. Hesitant on how to respond to that, he chose to lean back in his seat and stare ahead.

"Yeah," he agreed quietly.

"Do me a favor, okay?" Gerald asked.

"Sure, anything."

Gerald gave Arnold a quick glance and a cheeky grin. "You see Halle Berry give her my number, will ya?"

Arnold chuckled, relieved that the tense moment had passed. "Anything for you man."

The girls woke up as Gerald was turning into the airport and had moved from tired back to excited by the time he pulled up to the drop off point. As they pulled their suitcases out of the trunk, Arnold had crossed around to the driver's side window.

"Be careful out there. L.A. is full of wackos." Gerald warned.

"I'm sure I'll be stepping right in the middle of them too." Arnold retorted dryly. Gerald stuck his hand out the window and they did their handshake.

"Have fun man. Find a rich, hot blond in the business to bring back and make Lila jealous with, okay?"

"I'll see what I can do."

Daphne waved at Gerald as he drove off and they walked into the airport. Veronica stayed close to the two, her eyes wide and taking everything in.

"Haven't you ever been in an airport?" Arnold asked when they were riding the escalator to the top floor. The girl shook her head.

"This is new for me." Her voice was soft.

"I flew to South America to see my grandparents once." Daphne piped up as they walked towards the ticket counter.

"Well, none of us have ever been to California so that will be a new experience for all of us."

Minutes before their flight was called, Lila arrived. Carrying a carry-on and her purse, she air kissed her daughter and as usual gave Arnold a dirty look.

"You could've waited."

"I don't know what you're doing anymore. You're an adult, it isn't my responsibility."

Now he was hustling the girls into their seats, surprised that they were in the business class area. Once seated and comfortable, he groaned inwardly realizing that Lila was going to be sitting next to him for the entire five-and-a-half-hour flight. The red head seated herself next to him with minimal huffing and eye rolling, before picking up her headphones and a magazine and tuning him out. He turned around in his seat to look at both girls.

"Five and a half hours and we'll be in sunny California." He told them. Veronica beamed at him and Daphne grinned happily.

"I can't wait!" she exclaimed. "I have a great feeling that this is going to be the best week ever!"

* * *

 _Scene: Backstage at Holly Hills community Theater. Morris is pacing the floor wringing his hands in full costume for_ _A Man of No Importance_ _. Sarah appears backstage to wish him well. He spots her and races towards her, grabbing her arm as he passes and pulling her into a darkened corner of backstage._

 _Sarah: [laughing] "I just came back to tell you to break a leg, but metaphorically, not literally."_

 _Morris: [clutching at both of her hands and looking terrified] "Gavin Whittmer is here!"_

 _Sarah clutches back at his hands looking excited._

 _Sarah: "Gavin Whittmer! Oh Morris, this is great! He's going to see how brilliant you are and… [lets go of hands and throws her arms around his neck] "oh I'm so happy for you."_

 _Morris hugs her back but still looks worried._

 _Morris: "I can't do this. I'm going to be sick."_

 _Sarah pulls back and places her hands on his cheeks._

 _Sarah: "You are not. You're going to go out there and you are going to do what you do and knock Gavin Whittmer's socks off."_

 _His hands cover hers. His face turns from worried to pained._

 _Morris: "Sarah, I can't do this without you. But I have to know…"_

 _She moves a finger to his lips and gives him a knowing smile._

 _Sarah: "Morris, I do know. I've known since middle school." [she gives a sharp laugh] "Hell, I think I've known since grade school. I don't love you any less than I do now. Oh, don't cry, you'll ruin your make up."_

 _Both teens laugh at the comment. Morris dabs at his eyes careful not to ruin the stage make-up. He bends his head and kisses Sarah._

 _Morris: "I can't do this without you."_

 _Sarah: [smiles up at him] "Yes you can. Now go out there and be fabulous."_

 _Moving her hands, she plants a kiss on his cheek before turning him around and pushing him lightly towards the stage entrance. With one last smile, Morris takes a deep breath and steps out on stage._

 _S3E22 "Star Struck"_


	8. Chapter Seven

Part II

 _Scene: Bean Bags Café_

 _The café is loud with music and students sitting in groups at tables talking or sitting around on plush couches listening to the music or reading. In the back room it is quieter and there are less teens and student in this area, most are speaking in low tones or studying. At a small table towards the back of the room Helen and Arthur sit studying for a test, books and notebooks scattered across the entire table save for two small places where mugs of coffee sit. From the looks of both students it seems as if both have been at the same place for hours._

 _Helen picks up a notebook and flips a couple of pages of handwritten notes. Arthur sit next to her, his hands digging into his hair as he stares at a textbook._

 _Arthur: [tugging at his hair, voice low and quiet.] "I need a break."_

 _Helen: [her eyes don't leave the notebook, voice just as quiet.] "Can't break, finals tomorrow."_

 _Arthur groans lowly, sitting back in his chair and closes his eyes for a moment. Helen watches him out of the corner of her eye, her expression softens for only a brief moment._

 _Arthur: "It's all running through my brain nonsensically. Please Helen, if you treasure our friendship, let us take a break."_

 _Helen: "Who says I treasure our friendship? As far as I know you're only using me because you can't find anyone else to take pity on you."_

 _Arthur opens his eyes to give her a quick glare._

 _Arthur: "In an ironic twist, I'm the only one who can tell you're teasing."_

 _Helen: "Not true. Sophia knows when I tease, but I do it so rarely, it's quite obvious to her."_

 _He falls silent, stares unseeing at the book for a moment before speaking again._

 _Arthur: "Helen, you know you don't fool me with your tough girl act. I know you well enough after all these years."_

 _Helen: "Who said it was an act?"_

 _Arthur folds his arms across his text book and studies Helen. She pretends to ignore him until she can take it no longer. She slaps the notebook onto the table with a huff and turns a pointed glare to him._

 _Helen: "Take a picture, it'll last longer."_

 _Arthur merely smiles at her, his usual crooked half gaze smile. Helen's back straightens against the urge to melt into a puddle and smile back. When she speaks her voice come out harsher than she intended._

 _Helen: "What?"_

 _Arthur: "Nothing. It's just…you're one of my best friends Helen. I know you have this stuff down pat, so the fact that you begrudgingly agreed to spend your evening studying with me instead of doing your own thing…"_

 _Helen: "Yeah, yeah, I'm a saint, what's your point?"_

 _Arthur leans towards her, his half gaze focused on her. Helen grips the side of the table tightly, using the pain of the wood digging onto her palm to offset the feeling that gaze drags up in her chest._

 _Arthur: "You know my point Helen. Don't worry, I won't bring it up. Just…thank you."_

 _Helen snorts and rolls her eyes._

 _Helen: "Whatever. Back to studying."_

 _Arthur leans back and picks up both mugs from the table before standing up._

 _Arthur: "How about more coffee before we hit the books again. I think I'm almost getting this stuff."_

 _Helen watches Arthur walk away from the table towards the front counter before she allows herself to relax and give a soft lovelorn sigh._

 _Helen: [quietly whispers] "Oh my knight, my king; how I would spend all the hours of the day and night to help you in your quest for perfect grades. I am unworthy of your kindness, but any moment in your presence that you would bestow upon me I would gladly take, my handsome knight."_

 _Arthur steps back into sight and Helen's face schools into mild uncaring distain. He places the full mug of coffee exactly the way she likes it in the same place it was and retakes his seat._

 _Helen: "Ok, enough goofing off, back to work."_

 _Arthur gives her a lopsided grin as he flips to another page._

 _Arthur: "Okay Helen, you're the boss."_

 _Helen gives just a slight grin._

 _Helen: "That's right, I am."_

 _S3E15 "Knight in Denim Jeans"_

* * *

A little under six hours later, about two in the afternoon Hillwood time and noonish L.A time, the plane started debarking people, starting with business class first. Arnold stood close to Daphne and Veronica while the two teens craned their necks looking at everything around the airport. They stepped from the boarding gate and into the airport and the two girls gaped at the people hurrying around them. Lila stopped behind them glancing around disdainfully.

"Are we just supposed to find the hotel on our own?"

"You aren't staying with us anyway, why do you care?" Arnold shot back.

"Because thanks to you, the company agreed to pick me up at the hotel you and the girls are staying at this evening. It would have been nice if there was a service to pick us up."

"Like that one?" Daphne asked, pointing towards a uniformed man holding a sign that said **SHORTMAN**. Arnold smiled and waved at the man who nodded, lowered his sign and walked towards them. Arnold looked back at Lila.

"Could you at least please try to be polite?"

"Daphne Shortman?" The man asked as he approached. Daphne nodded her head.

"These are my parents and my friend Ronnie Montague."

"Welcome to Los Angeles." The man said. "My name is Harold and I'm going to be your driver during this trip. If you need to go anywhere, you only have to call."

"Really?" Arnold asked, placing a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Is that rather unusual for contest winners?"

Harold grinned. "We're a rather unusual television show."

"Does it matter?" Lila asked, picking up her carry-on bag. "Let's just get to the hotel."

Harold eyed Lila as she passed them, then fixed a polite smile on his face as he turned back to the other three. "Shall we get your bags?"

"Sorry about that." Daphne stated. "I'm not sure my mother ever had manners."

"Daphne!" Arnold exclaimed, blushing. Harold gave her a secretive smile.

"I quite understand Miss Shortman. Trust me, she is not the first I've seen like this, nor will she be the last." He gestured towards the exit. "Shall we retrieve your bags?" 

* * *

"But why is this coming out now?" Rebecca asked, looking first at her script then at Ariel. "I thought everyone rather knew Helen was a little crazy and stalker-ish. It's not like Lisa hasn't called her out on it before."

Helga ran a hand over her face as Tad snickered. "Why are we having this argument?" she muttered.

"Rebecca, honey, it isn't as if you and Ariel haven't played this before." Tad jumped in, diverting Helga from yelling at the two girls who suddenly wanted to debate the script.

"We know but it's just weird coming now." Ariel said, backing Rebecca. "I mean, Lisa mentioned something before and now suddenly she's being a huge bitch?"

"It's not a surprise that Lisa's a bitch." Tad retorted.

"No, I like playing Lisa as a bitch, but why is she suddenly attacking Helen, who really hasn't had any one on one moments with Arthur in a while."

"There was the entire episode two episodes before the season finale where it was all about Helen and Arthur." Tad reminded her. "Don't tell me that if you knew that your boyfriend spent an entire day alone with a girl you knew loved him, you wouldn't be just a bit upset?"

"But you have Helen just sitting back and taking it." Rebecca insisted. "Helen isn't going to just sit back and take this, she's gonna fight. Possibly with a right hook to Lisa's face."

Tad patted Helga's back reassuringly as he answered Helen's concerns.

"If you loved someone so much that you would willingly die for them, wouldn't it stand to reason that if someone used your love for him to convince you to leave him alone forever, you would do it?"

Rebecca opened her mouth to argue then stopped, shutting it again. "Maybe?"

"That's why we have these rehearsals." Tad told them. "Why don't you two re-read your lines, think about what it means to be Lisa and Helen and then try to run your lines with those thoughts in mind?"

They waited until the two girls left before Helga spoke. "Why is it suddenly so hard to understand?" she muttered.

"Because the outside is finally coming in." Tad told her. "The fans wanting Helen and Arthur together by the end, the blogs talking about the triangle. No matter how much we tried to make this show about the group, the fans are always going to find their favorite and cling to them. It's only going to get worse the closer we get to the end of this."

Helga sighed, scrubbing her face. "You're right. Which means we need to have a serious talk with the kids before we film any more episodes."


	9. Chapter Eight

_Scene: Right outside the back entrance to the high school. Wallace and Stan are standing by the entrance to the shop area when Gordon storms towards them. He grabs the front of Stan's jacket and snarls in his face. Wallace stumbles back looking nervously between both boys._

 _Gordon: "What's the bright idea?"_

 _Stan: "Get off of me!"_

 _Stan swipes at Gordon's hands and Gordon lets go. Stan stumbles backwards._

 _Stan: "What are you yelling about?"_

 _Gordon: "Don't play stupid, you know what I'm talking about. I just talked to Dave and he told me about you coming to practice stoned yesterday. What the hell?"_

 _Stan: "Dave needs to shut his fat mouth. I wasn't stoned, it was just something to take the edge off."_

 _Stan turns defiant, his mouth curling into a snarl._

 _Stan: "Anyways why do you care? You're so far up Steph's ass most days you don't even know what's going on. What happened to you man, you used to be one of us."_

 _Gordon: [fold his arms across his chest] "I have never gotten wasted like that. My ma would kill me. And you know the coach does random testing, you trying to get kicked off?"_

 _Stan: "What if I am? I never wanted to be on the team anyway, only did it because you wanted to."_

 _Gordon: That's bullshit and you know it. You were the one always talking about football."_

 _Wallace:" Actually, it was you Gordo. But we all liked it."_

 _Stan waves a shaky finger towards Wallace._

 _Stan: "See! Your dream, man, not mine. I got plans and they don't include some stupid high school sport."_

 _Gordon: "Plans. You've never come up with one good plan since we were in middle school."_

 _Stan's face turns thunderous._

 _Stan: "You're just jealous of me. You've always been jealous of me and now you think you're better than me with your jacket and your cheap girlfriend."_

 _Gordon raises a fist threateningly towards Stan._

 _Gordon: "You watch your mouth about Steph."_

 _Stan: "You make a decision. Us or your girlfriend. Because I ain't hanging around you being all mushy and whipped. We've been friends a hell of a lot longer than you've been with her. It's either/or Gordo. No more both."_

 _Wallace: "Can we talk about this, guys?"_

 _Gordon stares at him in disbelief for a moment._

 _Gordon: "Are you stupid Stan? What the hell was in that crap you've been smoking?"_

 _Stan: "Make up your mind Gordon."_

 _Wallace: "Stan…"_

 _Stan: "No, shut up Wallace. Make up your mind Gordon."_

 _Gordon's face went hard, his eyes piercing through Stan._

 _Gordon: "I'm not giving up Steph."_

 _Stan's face goes red. His fist clench. His face screws up and he spits on the ground in front of Gordon's feet._

 _Stan: "Screw you then man. We're done."_

 _Gordon: "Stan…"_

 _He turns and stalks away. Gordon looked at Wallace who is looking nervously between Gordon and Stan's retreating figure._

 _Gordon: "Wallie."_

 _Wallace looked back at Gordon._

 _Wallace: "I gotta help him Gordo. I'll see you around."_

 _Wallace hurries towards the retreating figure of Stan leaving Gordon to watch after them, his fists and jaw clenched tightly._

 _S3E12: "Thursdays, I hate Thursdays"_

* * *

With the help of Harold, they managed to get their bags in a short amount of time and then followed the uniformed man towards the exit. The sun shone bright in afternoon sky and Daphne skidded to a halt when she realized just what Harold was walking towards.

"Is that a limo?" she asked, her voice rising in excitement. Beside her Veronica clutched her friend's hand, her eyes wide. Harold gave a small smile as he opened the back door.

"It is Miss Shortman. Would you like the sun roof opened as well?"

Beside Arnold Lila slid on a pair of sunglasses and shrugged one shoulder. "At least this is becoming tolerable."

"Dad!" Daphne exclaimed as she scrambled into the back of the limo. "We got a limo! Holy crap there's a refrigerator in here!"

Harold chuckled as he packed the suitcases into the trunk.

"This is quite a bit." Arnold remarked as he carried suitcases over to help Harold.

"Not at all. The WCB is a popular network and a majority of it is from this show. They have four years' worth of PR money for this contest, they went all out. Helping me isn't necessary sir, this is my job."

Arnold backed off, rubbing a hand behind his head. "Sorry. I'm not used to having people do things for me."

Harold shut the trunk and nodded. "I understand. It is rather unusual the first time, but by the time you get ready to leave, I daresay you'll all be old hats at it."

Arnold climbed into the backseat and shut the door as Harold walked to the front of the limo. He had to admit, the car was large. Two bench seats able to hold three people each comfortably with enough room between the seats to stretch their legs. On one side was a small fridge that held small bottles of water. Daphne and Veronica were bouncing from seat to seat looking at all the lights and buttons. Veronica gave a cry of delight when she accidently turned on the television hidden in the partition. The sun roof slid open and Daphne cheered, climbing on the seat to poke her head through. Arnold reached over to grab at her leg.

"Get down." he ordered, tugging at her jeans. She dropped down in the seat and grinned at her father.

"This is awesome!" she squealed. Lila was sitting on the other side of the car, her attention focused on her tablet.

On the other side of the seat, Veronica turned around and knocked on the partition. After a moment it slid open.

"How can I help you?" Harold asked.

"Can we open the back windows?" she asked.

"Of course. There's a panel in between your seats that control the windows."

Daphne looked around and spotted the smooth black control panel. She pressed a button and the window next to Arnold opened.

"Dad, switch us!" she almost yelled.

"If you promise not to stick your whole head out the window."

"We just wanna see." Veronica insisted.

Laughing, he climbed over to the other seat, leaving the girls to clamber over to the window to look out.

Glancing backwards, he angled his body so he could see Harold better.

"Sorry, they're just a little excited."

The driver chuckled again. "Honestly, it's a breath of fresh air. I mostly drive around studio execs and an occasional actor or actress."

"So where are we going?"

Well, we'll get you checked in at the Ritz-Carlton and you all can spend some time relaxing for a bit. I'll be back at about two thirty. We should get to the studio around three, where I'll leave you in the more than capable hands of Megan Lautner, our PR representative. I think there's a brief tour and then you should all have a brief meeting with the cast and executive directors of Ever After. I'll be back at five thirty to pick you up and take you back to the hotel."

Both girls poked their heads into the limo at hearing the final part of their itinerary for that day.

"We're meeting them today?" Daphne exclaimed.

"According to Megan, yes. Unless something changes within the next hour, which it shouldn't. Inane Zebra are usually pretty strict about last minute changes."

Veronica suddenly looked terrified. "I'm not ready." She said, her voice trembling. Lila spared a glance.

"Honestly, they're just television actors."

Arnold looked over at her. "Weren't you one of the large group of girls at PS 118 who was in love with Ronnie Matthews at one time?"

His only response was an eye roll and she went back to her tablet. 

* * *

The limo pulled up in front of a large and luxurious hotel and both moved back to the window, squeaking when the door suddenly opened. Harold climbed out of the car and moved to the back where he began unloading bags from the trunk onto a rolling luggage carrier a bellhop held. Daphne and Veronica climbed out of the limo and craned their necks up to try to look at the top of the hotel.

"Holy crap." Daphne murmured. Lila climbed out next, followed by Arnold.

"I'm impressed." Lila said. "They seemed to have pulled out all the stops for this contest."

The girls were following the bellhop in leaving Arnold and Lila standing outside. A thin gentleman in a suit walked through the door outside and smiled pleasantly at them.

"Welcome to the Ritz-Carlton. I am Geoffrey, your liaison for your stay here." His accent was posh but more California posh. "I am to assume that the two teenaged girls who followed Andre into the hotel would be Miss Shortman and her compatriot."

"They would be." Arnold answered, taking the man's extended hand. "Arnold Shortman and this is Daphne's mother Lila."

"Of course, I can see the resemblance." Geoffrey said bowing slightly towards Lila. "If you would follow me, I will get you registered and escort your family to your suite."

The doorman opened the door to let them enter and Arnold almost stumbled stepping into the entrance.

"I'm sorry, did you say suite?" he asked. Beside him, Lila rolled her eyes and quickened her pace.

"Yes, your family will be placed in one of our executive suites on the 24th floor. There is a guest bedroom with two full sized beds as well as the Master bedroom and a living area so you should all be quite comfortable." He led them to the front desk where the two girls were already standing with the bell hop and greeted the sleek professional looking woman manning the reservation desk. "Krista, these are our guests from WCB. If you could please register them?"

"Of course." The tanned brunette responded, smiling perfect white teeth at Arnold. "Welcome to the Ritz-Carlton. If I could just have your driver license, please?"

Arnold pulled out his wallet and handed over his driver's license. She glanced at it and smiled as she entered in the information.

"So how far is Hillwood from New York?"

"About forty-five minutes by train." Lila answered. Krista nodded slowly as she typed.

"Being so close to such a major city, do you go often?"

"Every day." Lila answered. "I work for Elle Magazine."

"That must be exciting." She handed the license back to Arnold and flashed another perfect smile. "Your license Mr. Shortman." She then produced two slim cards. "These are your hotel keys. Enjoy your stay and do not hesitate to call at any time if you need anything."

Arnold smiled back. "Thank you Krista."

"If you'll follow me?" He gestured with a flourish directed to the two girls towards the elevator and with a round of mutual giggles Daphne and Veronica hurried towards the row of elevators followed by Geoffrey and an amused Arnold.

It was the quietest he'd seen Daphne in a long time. With the exception of a random giggle from one or the other, both girls for the most part were both quietly trying to see everything at once.

The elevator stopped at the 24th floor and opened. Geoffrey stepped out first and looked back at Arnold.

"If you'll allow me?"

Arnold blinked in confusion for a moment then handed over one of the key cards. Geoffrey led them down the hall a short ways and stopped in front of two large doors. Swiping the key card, he opened one door and unlocked the other to push it open as well.

Daphne gasped as she stepped into the hotel room. Veronica was a moment behind here and soon both girls were racing through the executive suite.

"Does this open?" Daphne yelled standing in front of a set of sliding glass doors that led to a balcony. Arnold stepped into the hotel room and gaped at the lavish setting.

"Holy…" he whispered then spotted Daphne. "Sweetie, don't touch anything."

"They do." Geoffrey strode towards the glass doors and with a flick of his wrist, slid them open.

"Daphne be careful!" Arnold called out as both girls ran onto the balcony to look out at the skyline.

"This is awesome!" Daphne yelled from the balcony. Lila slid her glasses off and slowly scanned the room in obviously approval.

"Very nice." She stated.

Geoffrey walked to the left towards a set of doors. "This, of course, is your living area complete with a small kitchen. This door leads to the guest room." He pushed open the door revealing a large room with two full sized beds. He crossed the room to the other side, passing the two girls still on the balcony and made a small turn towards another set of doors. "This is the bathroom and this is the Master Suite."

He opened another door and Arnold followed him, gasping at the size of the room.

"It comes with a separate dressing area through the door on the other side of the room." Geoffrey finished. Arnold stepped into the room looking around slowly.

"This is too much." He finally said. "I was expecting maybe two hotel rooms at the local Hilton or something."

"Shut up." Lila snapped at him finally stepping into the room. "If a production company wants to treat us like royalty then let them. It's their money."

Arnold turned slightly to look at her. "I thought you had a penthouse?"

"I'm tempted to cancel it."

"Please don't on my account. And remember there will be two sixteen-year-old girls running around this suite."

She wrinkled her nose. "You're right. No, no." She called towards the bel hop who was carrying her bags into the room. "Those stay by the door. I have other accommodations."

At Geoffrey's raised eyebrow, Arnold explained. "Daphne's mother is on a working holiday. Her company is putting her up in one of their penthouses."

"Indeed."

Arnold waited until Lila left the room and placed a hand on Geoffrey's arm. "I'm sorry, I know I'm going to sound like an uneducated hick here but how much should I tip the bell hop?"

The thin man stared at Arnold for a moment before giving him a genuine smile. "It's usually customary to tip about a dollar or two per bag."

Arnold mentally counted up the bags they came with before nodding. "Thank you."

"I've never had anyone ask that before, they usually just estimate." Geoffrey said as they exited the room. Daphne and Veronica had given up on staring outside and were lounging on the couch watching everyone.

"I don't want to insult anyone." He pulled out a ten and a five as they reached the door and handed it to the bell hop. "Thank you."

The man bowed slightly before pushing the trolley out of the room. Geoffrey followed him, turning as he shut the second door and handing the key back to Arnold.

"If you need anything during your stay please do not hesitate to call the concierge desk and request it. Enjoy your stay." He shut the door behind them, leaving only the four of them in the hotel room.

Daphne fell back onto the couch. "This place is awesome!"

"Ronnie, call your mother. And you might want to send her pictures of this place too." Arnold suggested. The raven haired girl climbed to her feet and pulled her phone out of her pocket walking back towards the balcony.

"Remind the princess what she's lost." Lila muttered as she passed Arnold walking towards the bathroom.

"Lila." Arnold shot back but she'd already walked past him and into the bathroom. Daphne watched until the door closed.

"Why does mom have to be so mean all the time?"

Arnold shrugged, crossing the room to sit next to his daughter. "I don't know. She didn't used to be this way."

"Or maybe she was and you just never saw it." She commented, laying her head on his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her and frowned thoughtfully. 

* * *

"Maybe if we work on another scene?" Tad suggested. Helga grunted slapping her script down on her chair.

"I knew the dating thing was going to be problems." She grumbled. Tad ignored her, searching the set for the actors he was looking for.

"Blaine! Lana! Let's jump to Gordon and Stephanie's scene. Chris, Tim, we'll need Stan and Wallace too."

"Got it!" Tim yelled as he climbed to his feet and the other actors gathered on stage to go over their scene.

The scene went off perfectly and Helga threw up her hands at the end. "Finally! I honestly thought everyone had lost their minds!"

"Maybe Becky just needs some motivation?" Tad teased, ducking a wayward slap.

"I'll motivate her with my foot up her ass." Helga grumbled.

"No you won't. You love that girl." Tad said lightly. "Take her in the back and have a heart to heart with her about why this is suddenly so difficult. Maybe some advice? Run the lines with her?"

Grumbling Helga snatched up her script again. "Becky! Get over here!" she yelled as she strode towards the back of the sound set and behind a curtain. Rebecca pushed a strand of blond hair behind her ear nervously and glanced between Tad and Anderson. The blond boy grinned.

"She isn't going to kill you."

"Maybe bruise you emotionally a bit but no killing today." Tad teased. Chewing her lip, she headed towards the back where Helga had gone. Tad looked at the other actors.

"We're taking a break!" he yelled out, receiving cheers.


	10. Chapter Nine

_Sophie: "Where are you taking me?"_

 _Marcus: "It's a surprise. You'll see when we get there."_

 _Marcus pulls her along the garden path, smiling at her nervous excitement._

 _They walked around a bend towards the dock by the lake. A table was set up with candles, flowers and lights strung around the wooden rails. Sophie stopped, her eyes wide, one hand lifting to cover her mouth._

 _Sophie: "Oh Marcus. It's beautiful!"_

 _Marcus leads her to the table on the dock, helping her sit down. On the table are two covered dishes. He lifts the cover to show salad and a pasta dish._

 _Marcus: "For you, mademoiselle."_

 _Sophie: "This is too much. When did you find time to do all of this?"_

 _Marcus: "I have my way."_

 _He pulls the second chair towards her and sits down, her hand still in his._

 _Marcus: "You mean so much to me Sophie, I want you to know how much."_

 _He pulls a small box out of his jacket pocket and holds it out towards her. Sophie's face pales, her hands shake as she stares at the box._

 _Marcus: "It's not much, but I want you to know how much I love and adore you."_

 _He opens the box to reveal a gold ring with a small emerald set in the middle._

 _Marcus: "We still have a year before we graduate and I don't want to derail anything. But, consider this a promise. A promise that once we've graduated, we will revisit this and I will propose to you properly."_

 _Sophie: "Marcus…"_

 _Marcus: "Sophie, I love you and I want to be with you forever. I'm hoping you want the same thing."_

 _Sophie is crying, nodding franticly, as he pulls the ring from its bed._

 _Sophie: "Yes. I love you. Of course, yes."_

 _Smiling, he slides the ring onto her finger. Sophie pulls him to her kissing him._

 _S3E23 "Beginnings_

* * *

The four were back in the limo and heading towards the WCB studios. Daphne and Veronica were growing more anxious the closer they got until finally Veronica let out an excited squeal.

"We're here!"

Daphne pulled out her phone and took a picture of the studio gates.

"To send to Lyss and Izzy." She explained grinning.

The limo stopped at the gates and the back door opened. A petite blond climbed in smiling at everyone.

"Hi! I'm Megan Lautner, the PR representative for WCB. Welcome to our studios." As she sat down, she nodded towards the front of the limo. "I'm in Harold, thanks."

The limo drove onto the studio lot as Megan sat down and smiled at the girls who were suddenly sitting as still as statues. "Which one of you is Daphne Shortman?"

"Here!" Daphne's hand shot up. "I'm here!"

Megan laughed. "I'm glad to see you excited. This wouldn't work if you two were bored stiff." She looked at Veronica. "You must be Veronica Montague."

Veronica nodded so fast Arnold was worried her head would fall off her neck. Arnold leaned forward.

"Arnold Shortman and this is Daphne's mother Lila Sawyer-Shortman."

Megan nodded her greeting and handed them all lanyards. "Well, these are your passes. Ever After is a closed set so please make sure you have your lanyard on and visible at all times. Security will escort you out if they do not see the pass. Now I could show you where some of the other shows are filmed but something tells me you really don't care about that."

"I can if you want to show us." Daphne said. Arnold shook his head while Megan laughed.

"It's okay, I understand. This show is a big hit because of fans like you two. I have to say, your essay was popular with Inane Zebra. They read through every entry themselves and yours seemed to hit a cord. Now they're in rehearsals today so it isn't an actual filming. Which means it'll probably be in some sort of organized chaos but it's also the only time when all the cast members are on set at the same time." She looked at her watch. "In fact they should be finished in about an hour barring any unforeseen issues which means maybe an hour watching rehearsals and meeting the cast and crew of the show."

The limo turned and began slowing.

"I know that it doesn't seem like much time but it's late and you do another four days with them. This is merely introductions. Trust me, by the time this trip is over, you'll be sick of all of them."

Daphne and Veronica snorted in unison. "Not likely." Daphne stated.

Megan laughed and opened the door. "Well, let's put that to the theory, shall we?" 

* * *

"This is why I didn't want dating on my set." Helga insisted. Rebecca sniffed.

"I'm sorry!" She exclaimed. "We didn't expect it to happen!"

Helga pulled at her hair as she paced the back stage. Finally, she dropped her arms and turned to look at Rebecca.

"Okay, I need you to close your eyes and listen. Imagine this entire show is actually your high school life. Anderson is dating Ariel and you're desperately in love with him. You've been desperately in love with him since middle school. You write poetry about him, you might have a small shrine, you can't go a minute without thinking of him, his hair, his laugh, his voice. Your entire life is him. And yeah, it sounds pathetic and borderline stalker-ish but you can't help it. He's the air you breathe, you reason you go to school every day and with your family, some days the reason you live. You would kill for him; you would die for him. You would do anything he asked. Even if it means just being his friend and being there when he needed you. Now, Ariel knows how you feel and takes advantage of it. Anderson can't see what she does, is too blinded by what he thinks is a mutual affection. She mentions it once when you two are freshmen, when she started dating Anderson, but mostly has left it alone. Now she comes to you stating that Anderson isn't happy. That he loves her-her meaning Ariel- but his relationship with you has him worried that you might feel something more than friendship for him. And Anderson's a caring guy, he's going to want to talk about it. And the last thing you want is Anderson knowing how you felt, it would ruin your friendship. So Ariel asks you, that if you ever loved him, to leave him alone. Avoid him, ignore him. And sure he might be hurt for a bit but he'll get over it. She asks you to let him be happy."

Rebecca opened her eyes. "Ariel's a bitch."

"She is…or rather, her character Lisa is. But Helen is so in love with Arthur that she'll do anything to make him happy, even if it means making herself miserable." Helga fixed the blond teen with a hard stare. "Now do you understand what I'm trying to get from you?"

Before Rebecca could respond, the curtain was flung aside and Tad hurried in, his face pale. He stared at the two women for a moment before focusing on Rebecca.

"Becky get out. Back to the stage. Now."

Helga straightened as Rebecca frowned.

"What's going on?"

"Did I do something wrong?"

Tad shook his head. "Becky, go. Helga, first, I'm not going to laugh. Second, I need you to breathe." 

* * *

The door to the soundstage opened and Megan showed her badge to the man standing in the entrance. The sound of music mixed with teens talking and laughing spilled out into the open and Lila frowned.

"I expected a popular television show to be a little more professional." She sniffed in distain. She lifted the pass and the man nodded, shutting the door behind her as everyone stepped in.

"And usually it is, but this is their rehearsal period. Everything gets a little crazy during rehearsals." Megan pushed open another door and the stage sets for Holly Hills High School came alive. Veronica gasped loudly, her eyes wide as saucers and Daphne let out an involuntary laugh.

"Oh my God!" she gasped, clutching Veronica's arm. "We're here."

"Oh God Daphne," Veronica choked, pointing towards a group of teens gathered in one area. "It's them."

Arnold grinned, watching the two girls try their best not to have a melt-down on the set of their favorite show.

"Are they allowed to take pictures?" he asked.

"Um, I'm not sure. If it was a production day I'd say no, but I'll have to ask either Tad or Hel to get their take."

"I think Brooke needs a theme song." A dark haired girl said in the distance, directing her statement towards a tall dark-haired man crossing the floor. Without breaking stride, he merely pointed a finger at the girl.

"No." he said. "If Brooke gets a theme song then everyone will want one and suddenly we're Mtv."

"Mtv doesn't play music." The red haired girl sitting next to the now laughing teen tossed out while typing on her phone.

"And that's a great pity." The man shot back just as quickly. "No theme songs."

Megan waved to a couple of the kids as they walked into the open area. Daphne tapped her dad's arm.

"That's Anne Cummings and Ariel Collins," she stage whispered. "They play Brooke and Lisa."

Arnold nodded as Daphne hurried towards Veronica and grabbed the girl's arm again.

"Afternoon kids, Tad, our contest winner is here!"

The dark haired man spun on his heel, his head bent looking at the script. He lifted his head and his smile froze as he caught sight of them. He looked away towards a curtain behind him and when he turned back, a welcoming smile was pasted to his face.

"Hi! Welcome to Studio G." He strode towards them, script in one hand and after shooting a quick glance towards Megan, focused his attention to the two teen girls. Lila stepped forward, placing a hand on Arnold's shoulder and peered at the tall, handsome man striding towards them.

"Is that Curly?" she asked, her voice low. Arnold was giving her an odd look and the question didn't register for a moment. He blinked and turned back towards the man walking towards them.

"Tad?" Arnold asked.

He stopped within normal speaking distance and smiled.

"That would be me."

"Curly?" Lila repeated, stunned. Tad's smile slipped dimmed slightly.

"That would no longer be me. Now," he continued, looking back at the two teens before him. He studied Veronica first, his smile turning melancholy for a brief moment before he looked at Daphne. He pointed his now rolled up script at her. "You must be Daphne."

Daphne's grin widened as she stared at Tad. "Oh my God I love your show! It's the best thing on television. Your characters are so real life!"

Tad laughed. "Well, we try." He glanced back at Veronica. "And who are you?"

Veronica's eyes were still wide as she stared at him. "R..Ronnie Montague, sir."

Another laugh. "Ronnie? Short for Veronica?"

She nodded.

"And let me guess." He folded his arms and pretended to study them. "Your favorite character is…Arthur." He stated with a quick glance towards Arnold. Daphne nodded, still grinning.

"I prefer Theo." Veronica said. Tad raised an eyebrow.

"I would not have expected that. Anne!" he yelled, turning back to look at where the group of kids were now watching the conversation. "I've found your replacement for the next time you annoy me!"

"You love me and you know it!" the dark haired girl yelled back, hopping off the stage and walking towards them. Tad turned back around, amusement plain on his face.

"I know exactly where we're putting you." He stated.

Veronica froze, her face panicked and Tad laughed.

"You honestly didn't think we'd make you sit out while your friend got a walk on part, did you?" Still smiling, he finally looked up at Arnold and Lila. "It's nice to see you two again. How is Hillwood's most famous power couple?"

Daphne and Veronica's head snapped towards Arnold and Lila in shock. "You guy know each other?" Daphne almost screeched.

"Back in the day." Tad answered, studying them. He broke off before either could answer as Anne approached them. "What are you doing trouble maker?"

Daphne and Veronica gaped as Anne studied them both with an amused look. "Sizing up my competition. You are adorable!" she exclaimed catching site of Veronica. "Are those vintage Caprini boots?"

"They were my mother's." Veronica mumbled, her ears turning red. Anne grinned at her.

"Those are fabulous."

Tad took a step backward waving his hand. "Come in, meet the rest of the cast, we're about finished for the day anyway. Um…Anne, introduce everyone and don't freak them out. I'll.." he glanced behind him again. "I'll just get Hel. Excuse me."

He spun around and strode away from them and towards the curtained area. Arnold looked at Megan.

"Did we just get schmoozed?"

Megan laughed. "Tad does tend to talk over everyone. It's usually how he gets his way." 

* * *

"Becky go! Helga, first, I'm not going to laugh. Second, I need you to breathe."

Rebecca Pilson stepped from behind the curtain, expression thoughtful. She could still hear Tad and Hel talking.

"What?"

"The contest winners are here."

"And it's someone we know? You said you were going to laugh at me."

"No. No, Helga, listen."

"Is it Gerald? Maybe Patty and Harold's kid. Do they even have a kid?"

"Helga."

Rebecca turned around and saw Anne standing next to Megan and a family of four. An older blond man standing next to a redheaded woman who had her hand resting possessively on his arm. A redhead and a raven haired teen girls stood in front of Anne, both looking like they were trying hard not to flail.

"I got this Tad. Just be my charming self."

The curtain shifted and Rebecca hurried towards the stage where Anderson and Darren stood.

"The contest winners are here." Anderson said as she approached.

"And Hel and Tad know them." Her eyes narrowed as she studied the group. "There's something familiar about them."

Darren leaned in between them. "Well, we're about to find out." He said as the curtain rustled.


	11. Chapter Ten

**AN: This is it guys. Let me know what you think. And here...we...go.**

* * *

 _Scene: Gossfor park_

 _Xavier is sitting on a bench swiping through his phone. Spring is on its way but Xavier is wearing long sleeves._

 _The sound of footsteps on the pavement running towards him and he lifts his eyes from his phone, looking at the approaching figure the rim of his glasses._

 _Naomi is running down the path, her tee shirt and jogging pants dark with sweat._

 _She spots Xavier as she approaches the bench and runs towards him, her feet almost tripping as she runs off the path and into the grass._

 _Xavier tenses but doesn't reach out to help her. He knows the rules. Naomi rights herself and runs the final foot to the bench almost falling onto it, gasping breaths._

 _Xavier waits a moment before silently pulling a water bottle from his satchel and handing to her. Naomi nods her thanks and drinks the entire bottle in long gulps, not bothering to check the contents. She knows Xavier would never betray her._

 _He waits until she finishes drinking and then hands her a towel._

 _Naomi takes it and with shaky hands wipes the sweat from her face._

 _Naomi: "Thank you. How long have you been here?"_

 _Xavier: "About an hour. I knew you'd be here."_

 _Naomi: "Breanna made me taste her veggie patty at lunch. I could feel the food making its way to my hips. I don't know how I didn't throw up."_

 _Xavier: "I saw. That's how I knew you'd been here."_

 _Naomi smiled at him. "Thank you. I think I sweated out all of my water intake for today. But I think I worked off all of that burger."_

 _Xavier: "Are you ready to leave? My parents are gone for the night if you don't want to go home. You can take a shower and change clothes before you head home tonight."_

 _Naomi: "A shower sounds wonderful. I feel dirty."_

 _Xavier stands up pocketing his phone and slinging the satchel over his shoulder. Naomi stands up but her feet crumple beneath her, her legs too weak to support her. Wordlessly, Xavier, bends down and scoops her up, easily carrying her in his arms. She so skinny, she weights practically nothing in his arms. Tiredly, she wraps her arms around his shoulders and allows him to carry her through the park towards his car._

 _Naomi: "You're always there for me, Xavier. I don't know what I would do without you."_

 _Xavier: "Nami, I will always be there for you._

 _S3E19: "Spring"_

* * *

Daphne was trying not to squeal as Anne spoke to them. She noticed the curtain in the distance rustle and then Rebecca Pilson step out, her face pensive.

"Darling, which one of these boys is your favorite again?" Her mother asked, her hand laying possessively on her shoulder. Daphne glanced back at her mother in confusion noticing her mother's other hand resting on her father's arm and her father giving her an odd look.

"Um…" Daphne hedged, looking back to see the curtain rustle again and a beautiful, tall blonde step out. Her hair was pulled back in a loose French braid and she was glancing back towards the curtain as she spoke. As she turned towards them, Daphne heard her father gasp. The woman stopped in mid step, suddenly frozen like a scared rabbit. Her mother's grip tightened on her shoulder and she winced.

The blond looked down for a moment and in that moment Daphne had seen fear in her eyes. The curtain shifted again and Tad stepped out, his eyes on the blond. When she looked back, her eyes were shuttered, her back straight and as she approached them, Daphne was reminded of a soldier walking into a battle. A quick glance towards Anne confirmed that the raven haired actress had spotted it also was she was watching her boss walk towards them with a calculated look.

"Helga?" her father said behind her and Daphne turned in time to see her father pull away from her mother's hand and step around them to walk quickly towards the blond whose steps were faltering. "Helga!"

"Hey Arno…oof!" she gasped out as Arnold swept her into a hug. The entire studio was quiet now, the kids by the stage watching the interaction with curious interest. Daphne notice that Rebecca was standing next to Anderson and Ariel was on the other side of Darren watching and her eyes widened. She looked at her father hugging the blond in front of her and a quick glance back showed her mother watching the two with barely held hidden anger. Her eyes widened further as she looked between her father and Hel and the stage where the teens stood.

Helga stood stock still for a moment, then her arms came around the man and she patted him on the back. The small smile on her face faded as she looked up at Lila standing a little way away. Clearing her throat, she stepped back, putting some distance in between them.

"It's great to see you!" Arnold exclaimed, not bothered by the face that she'd stepped away. "You look amazing."

"Yes," Lila added stepping behind Arnold and sliding her hand up his arm again, leaning into him. "It's amazing what good ocean air and some sun will do for a person."

Helga's face shuttered closed and the smile on her lips was fake. "Los Angeles will do that."

A touch at her shoulder and Tad was there, a professional smile pasted firmly on his face.

"We were pretty much finished for the day anyway, so why don't you guys come over and meet the cast?" he suggested. "I'm sure you two know everyone, but if you're to have a walk-on roll, they have to get to know you."

Megan stepped forward, relieved to be back on schedule. "Of course, if you will follow me?"

Anne grabbed Veronica's hand and pulled her along, the raven haired teen looking star-struck as she and Daphne followed.

"Everyone's so curious to meet you. By the end of your trip, I'm positive we're all going to be great friends." Anne announced, casting a quick glance towards Tad as she pulled the teen along. Arnold gave one last indecipherable look towards Helga as they passed. Tad waited before leaning closer to Helga to hiss in her ear.

"If you would stop for one minute and listen to me."

"Not now Tad." She hissed back. He patted her shoulder and pushed her gently.

"Get some air Athena." He said lowly. "Gather yourself, grab your shield then come back to the battle."

She gave him a grateful look before turning and striding off towards the exit.

He watched her walk away then took a deep breath and headed towards the cast who were now half gathered around the four new people. He had to gather his own shield because he could tell by some of the curious looks he got as he approached there would be questions later.

* * *

It was hard to tell who was more excited, Veronica or Daphne. Both teens looked like they were about ready to burst as Anne led them towards the set.

The actors for their part, were walking to the end of the set _._ Before they could reach it, Allen broke ranks and walked towards Anne and the girls, his smile bright with just a hint of mischievousness.

"We were wondering if you were just going to keep them to yourself." He teased. He stopped in front of the girls and eyed them both critically.

"All right, my dark goddess, who do we have here?"

Veronica meeped softly. Anne placed a hand on Daphne's shoulder.

"This is Daphne Shortman, our contest winner. And this," she patted Veronica's shoulder. "Is Ronnie."

Allen's smile brightened a notch. "Anne, she could play your double."

Veronica meeped again. Allen swept up her hand and bowed slightly.

"My dear, it's a pleasure to meet you."

A strangled giggle escaped from Veronica's lips and Daphne laughed.

"Don't make her pass out. I'll have to take pictures and send them to her mom."

Allen chuckled, letting go of Veronica for a moment to hold his hand out to Daphne. "Daphne, it's very nice to meet you. Are you ready for this week?"

"Maybe? After this last thirty minutes, I'm not sure." She admitted. Allen and Anne shared a look.

"Don't worry about Tad and Hel, their barks are worse than their bites." Letting go of Daphne's hand, he took a step towards them and in one smooth turn, slid Veronica's arm under his and tugged gently. "Come on, let's go meet the others and see which one of us makes you almost faint since it obviously isn't me." He raised his voice just enough for the others to hear. "I'm betting its Anderson."

"It's always Anderson." Someone joked and the actors laughed.

Veronica looked as if she was in shock, walking where Allen led, an amused Anne walking next to Daphne.

"You might want to taper down your blinding charm," she suggested. "Before you blind poor Ronnie."

Allen merely stuck his tongue out at her as they stepped onto the set.

"Guys," Anne announced to the crowd. "This is Daphne and Veronica."

Daphne slapped a hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She rambled. "Just let me freak out for a moment and then I'll be fine. I can't believe I'm here!"

Anderson stepped forward, his smile easy and friendly. "It's nice to meet you two. We're glad you're here."

Daphne squeaked as she shook his hand and Allen laughed. "Yep, it's Anderson."

"Guys stop," Anderson chastised. "Don't embarrass her, she's already freaked out as it is." He sent a mock glare towards a grinning Allen. "And don't think we don't remember the first time you met Paul Rudd."

"Hey, Paul Rudd is awesome." Allen retorted.

The girls smiled and shook hands with the entire main cast, Veronica finally snapping out of her daze long enough to remember her manners. When Joan Lee stepped forward Veronica began to tear up.  
"Can I hug you?" she asked shyly. "I love Sophia. She's so smart and brave and this is going to sound stupid but I'm not very popular at school and watching Sophia go through these last four years has really helped me."

Joan sniffed, her eyes growing red. "Oh my gosh, thank you! Give me a hug!" She reached out and hugged Veronica tightly. When Veronica stepped back, Joan took her hands and looked her in the eye.

"You are beautiful. Don't you dare let high school get the best of you. It's only four years of your life. I know it seems like forever but it'll be over in a snap and you'll never have to see those people again if you don't want to."

Veronica nodded wiping her eyes and Joan clucked over her and gave her another hug.

"We've got four days. Between me, Anne and Sarah by the time you go back home, you're going to be fierce."

Rebecca had hung back till last, watching not only the two girls but Daphne's parents and Tad standing a little away from them. Ariel crept towards her as the others were talking to the girls.

"What are you doing?" she whispered. Rebecca gave a slight nod towards Daphne's parents.

"Testing a theory." She whispered back. "Take a look at the parents and tell me what you see."

Ariel glanced up towards the two new adults standing just off set. "Parents. Dad who's watching his daughter meet her favorite TV show and the Mom who looks…bored as shit."

"Ariel, look at them." Rebecca emphasized. She spotted the door in the back open and Hel step into the soundstage, her steps and posture looking like a woman about to go to war. "And then look at Hel."

Ariel huffed and studied the parents. Her eyes went to Hel who was approaching them. Tad had turned around and apparently asked a silent question because she nodded once. Her gaze went back to the parents. Then she looked towards Anderson who was still in the crowd. When she turned to look at Rebecca, her eyes were wide.

"Shut. Up."

"I know!" she hissed. "I told Andy the other day that I don't think this is as fictitious as we automatically thought."

Ariel glanced at the parents again as Hel stood next to Tad, her arms crossed tightly across her chest. Then she whirled around.

"Holy shit! That means you're Hel!" she hissed. Rebecca grinned, nodding towards the mother.

"And you're her. Which means…"

Both girls looked at Anderson and then to Daphne's father and immediately burst out laughing, catching the attention of everyone. Anderson gave them both a look.

"What are you two up to?" he asked. Which caused a new burst of laughter out of both girls. He ignored them. "Get over here and meet our guests."

Biting lips and insides of cheeks, both Ariel and Rebecca stepped towards Daphne and Veronica. Rebecca let go of her hand with a grin.

"It's very nice to meet you. Let me guess, after Anderson, Ariel is your favorite."

Daphne blushed giving an apologetic glance towards Ariel. "Sorry. You're an amazing actress and your Lisa is great at being a bitch- "

"I strive for the right amount of bitch." Ariel joked.

"But I kind of love Helen. She's badass, she doesn't take any crap off of anybody and she's not scared of anything…except Arthur."

"I wouldn't say scared," Ariel intervened, sharing a knowing glance with Rebecca. "I'd use the word whipped."

A strangled noise had her glancing towards where the writers were standing. Tad had his back to the set and Hel was giving him a dirty look. A bit away, the father had turned to watch the two looking confused a little hurt.

Daphne shrugged helplessly glancing quickly at Anderson before turning back to the two girls. "I kind of ship them."

Anne laughed loudly. "Who doesn't ship those two?"

"All right!" Tad had curbed his snickers and was now back in full writer mode. "That's enough gossip, you'll give away state secrets." He walked towards the set, waving Arnold and Lila towards him. "In case you haven't figure it out, yes, we know Daphne's parents. Guys, this is Arnold and Lila Shortman."

Ariel and Rebecca looked at each other, then to the parents and finally at Tad. He merely shrugged.

"Shut. Up." Ariel said under her breath. Rebecca bit the inside of her cheek again.

"Now that we're all good friends why don't we do a quick run through the schedule with Megan so everyone, including Daphne and Ronnie know what's in store for the next…" he looked at Megan who held up four fingers. "Four days. We've already got parent's permissions, right?"

A nod by Megan.

"Good, then I'm obligated by WCB to tell you as Ronnie and Daphne's guardians that both girls will have a small role on an episode. The one we're setting up for which is episode two. There won't be any skin showing other than possibly bare arms and a neck, possibly toes, that's up to the costuming department. There may or may not be words depending on how the script turns out. If there are words you will get them no later than twenty-four hours before rehearsal which will be on day three. The production begins on your day four. Our kids already know this; I'm letting you two know." He tilted his head slightly studying the two girls. Taking a step back tilted his head the other way towards Hel.

"I'm thinking that girl we were going to hire to be the stand in for Theo's cousin, we should give that to Ronnie."

Hel was nodding, her fingers curling unconsciously. "That would work. She has the same coloring."

He turned back to the kids as Hel stepped towards her chair, picking up a pen and the discarded script and began writing.

"Okay, Megan?"

The smiling PR representative stepped forward.

"There's a lunch and dinner thing? Isn't there?"

"Yes." She confirmed.

"Awesome. So, I'm thinking lunch with the cast on day two. Kind of a get to know everyone without the pesky adults hovering."

Arnold frowned. "Wait, where are we going to be?"

Tad grinned at him. "Taking in the sights of California? Arnold, my man, you're in LA. Go be a tourist. Take your beautiful wife and go see the sights."

Daphne coughed. Arnold's frown deepened.

"Um…I think she has work."

"The lunch is at one of the restaurants on the studio lot so your girls are perfectly safe." Megan assured him. "Harold will pick them up at the hotel and drop them off when they are finished. At no time during this luncheon with either girl be alone."

"Yeah, we'll leave that all for the dinner." Tad joked. He clapped his hands together. "Speaking of dinner. Dinner will happen at end of rehearsal on day three. Rehearsal begins at promptly nine am and I have to warn you that Hel and I are taskmasters when it comes to timeliness. You two are going to get a real look at just what goes on behind the scenes of a television show. For the next four days you two are our actresses. Which means you're subject to same insanity the cast gets.

Lila wrinkled her nose. "I'm not sure I like this."

"Shut up mom," Daphne said, and nodded to Tad. "We can do this. We'll be professional."

Tad snorted. "Great, then you'll be doing one better than this cast of yahoos around you."

Allen stuck his tongue out at Tad and Anne playfully slapped at his shoulder.

"Production begins at seven sharp on day four because you have to hit make-up and costuming first. Clear?"

Daphne and Ronnie nodded.

"Wonderful!" Tad exclaimed clapping his hands together. "Then, welcome to Hollywood! Our kids, it seems you get tomorrow off."

A collective cheer filled the area causing Hel to look up.

"Rebecca, you need to study your motivation." She called out, surprising everyone. Since they'd walked in she'd said only a handful of words. Standing on set next to Daphne, Rebecca and Ariel grinned at each other.

"Don't worry Hel," Rebecca called out. "I think Ariel and I have this scene down pat now."

Tad eyed them. "That sounded ominous."

"Can we kidnap Ronnie and Daphne tomorrow then?" Anne asked, looking between Tad and Arnold. "Just for some shopping. I promise it won't take the entire day. And we'll have bodyguards with us."

Arnold looked hesitant.

"Please Dad?" she pleaded.

"I don't see why not," Lila said. "If they're going to be put to work like Hollywood actors, the least they can do is have some fun like Hollywood actors too."

"Fabulous!" Anne exclaimed. "We'll pick you up around one in the afternoon. Since it's our day off, I for one don't plan on getting out of bed until at least eleven."

"Okay, well let's get you guys back to the limo so they can wrap up." Megan announced. As the actors and the girls said their goodbyes and Daphne traded numbers with Anne, Tad walked over to Arnold and Lila.

"Sorry we didn't get to talk much, I had speeches and keeping this brood in line is a full time job. Especially since, as you saw, they like to make their own rules." He said. Arnold smiled, shaking his hand and pulling him in for a brief hug.

"No, it's okay. I understand. But I'd like to get together sometime if you guys have an off time frame and talk."

Lila smiled at him, her hand on Arnold's arm again. "Yes, it's be nice to talk about old times. And you can tell us how you and Helga managed to get a blockbuster show on television."

Arnold pulled his arm away before Tad could say anything and gave her a look. "All right, what is going on with you?" He finally asked. "Why are you suddenly all touchy?"

Lila giggled lightly. "Arnold, honestly, could we not discuss this in front of everyone? I don't understand why you're upset?"

Arnold huffed and looked at Tad. "Lila and I are separated. Have been for two years. One day maybe she'll even sign the divorce papers."

Lila glared at him. "Is that necessary?"

"Yes, it is. Because you've been up my backside these past two hours and I have no idea why. And considering you're only here for the free ride to do your "work" for the magazine and I had to put my foot down and basically threaten you to go to this one particular tour for your daughter, I'm rather confused by the sudden change in attitude."

"We'll discuss this when we get back to the hotel." She stated, glancing at Tad who was watching the entire exchange with some amusement.

"No, we won't, because the minute we get back, you're calling your people and having them pick you up to take you to the penthouse you're staying at. And honestly, I don't want to have any talk with you. What I want is to go back to the hotel, order a pizza and listen to both girls' squeal about how this has been one of the best days in their lives." He motioned towards the girls who were taking pictures with Allen and Anne. "Look at them,"

He shook his head, looking at Tad. "I can't remember when I've seen Daphne so excited. She's been like this since she got the letter saying she won. And Ronnie, she needed this. Ronnie is one of the most awkwardly shy girls I've ever met. If she goes home with even a hint of more confidence than she has now, her mother will be forever in your debt."

Lila snorted. "Won't that be an interesting turn of events." She muttered.

"Really Lila?" Sighing he yelled for the girls. "Come on! It's not like you won't see them tomorrow!"

Tad nodded. "I'll check my schedule and we'll get lunch or something."

Arnold nodded, glancing past him to look at Helga who was still sitting and writing. "Could you…"

"We'll all get lunch or something." Tad confirmed.

Arnold smiled, patting his shoulder. "See you later Helga!" he shouted across the room. The blond raised a hand not looking up from her writing.

Giving Tad one last smile, he gathered up both girls and followed Megan out of the sound studio.


	12. Chapter Eleven

_Scene: Back room of Bean Bags Café. Sitting around a table is a miserable looking Helen, Theodore and Sophia both looking concerned._

 _Theo: "What did she say?"_

 _Helen: [shakes her head in an effort to not remember] "If I loved him, truly loved him, I would leave him alone, let him be happy with her."_

 _Sophia: "Well, that is just bullshit."_

 _Both Helen and Theodore look at Sophia with surprise. Sophia doesn't usually curse. She would rather use odd phrases. Although she has been known to curse in Mandarin._

 _Sophia: "I'm sorry but that is the biggest lie I have heard this year. And I tutor. Helen, did you think that maybe the reason Arthur seems to be conflicted, as Lisa states, when he's around you is because he might have feelings for you?"_

 _Theodore watches the girls debate like a tennis match. His head turns from one to the other. Helen shakes her head._

 _Helen: "Arthur doesn't like me. Not like that."_

 _Sophia fixes her with a hard glare._

 _Helen: "I mean he likes me…we've known each other our entire lives. But…romantically…not me. I'm not that girl. He's wanted Lisa for as long as any of us can remember."_

 _Sophia: "Correction, he has wanted the image that Lisa portrays, not the person herself. And as we all know Lisa is not the person she pretends to be."_

 _Theodore nods in agreement._

 _Theo: "Yeah, nobody is that sickening polite all the time."_

 _Helen: "If this is what he wants, I can't stand in his way."_

 _Sophia: "So you are just going to give up? Just like that?"_

 _Helen: "I'm not giving up. I'm just not fighting."_

 _Theodore reaches over to grasp Helen's forearm._

 _Theo: "You are my Athena. My beautiful blond goddess of war. You never not fight."_

 _Sophia snickers at Theodore's description of Helen but doesn't interfere._

 _Theo: "You can't let Lisa win."_

 _Sophia: "You have wanted this for years. You have loved Arthur for years. You can't give up because Lisa is jealous."_

 _Helen shakes her head in resignation._

 _Helen: "It's because I love him that I'm stepping back. Arthur deserves the chance to be happy. If she makes him happy, who am I to stand in his way?"_

 _S4E2 "Confrontation"_

* * *

Tad was used to lying through his teeth. He'd done it his entire life just to survive through high school and it had become almost a second nature to him. He wasn't proud of it but he had perfected the art of being just smooth enough that he could confidently lie without anyone thinking anything else.

That's why his relationship with Helga worked so well; because where she detested schmoozing and lying through her teeth, he was practically a professional. She wrote and came up with great ideas and he pitched them.

Their relationship also worked because they were both a little crazy and even though they'd known each other since preschool, they'd become best friends day one of high school. There was only one person who knew her better than he did.

And because he knew her so well, he knew what he was coming home to.

The minute Megan had called his name and he'd turned around and saw **them** , he knew how this day would end. And he also knew there would be no more work done that day. Joking about it was one thing but the reality was something else entirely. Seeing his two old high school friends and the strawberry blonde teen that was obviously their daughter threw him off. Luckily, he also bounced back quickly.

He didn't see Helga's face when she first saw them but he had seen Lila's expression when Arnold had hugged her.

So instead he schmoozed and talked over everyone, introducing the teens to the cast and going over the itinerary. He also gave Helga something else to think about instead of the fact that the man she loved her entire life was standing only feet away from her.

After keeping everyone too busy to notice the awkwardness of the situation, or at least to ask any obvious question in front of the wrong people, he'd sent the Shortman's on their way and effectively booted all the kids out without having to answer any questions and then congratulated himself on surviving with minimal blowout.

That's when he noticed Helga was gone.

They sometimes took separate cars because they usually had separate things to do after production. So when he pulled into the garage later that afternoon he wasn't surprised to see her car already there. Walking into the house he was assaulted by music filling the house.

Helga was already in full soliloquy mode when he climbed the stairs to the main floor.

Barefoot, her hair loose around her shoulders and trailing after her as she muttered to herself and paced the large area, she looked the very part of tragic Shakespearian actress. He silently walked into the living room and sat down watching her and knowing that sooner or later she would start talking.

On her next pass around she spotted Tad sitting and waiting and she exploded.

"Why?" she wailed. "I've been good, I've done everything asked of me, why am I constantly tormented by him?"

He said nothing.

"I didn't go out of my way to pick his daughter, in fact had I known I would have put it to the side, no matter how good the writing was. I can't escape him; why must I always be haunted by him."

She climbed the two steps to the living room and dropped the crumpled script on his lap. He picked it up and scanned the writing. Her handwriting covered every back page of the script. Some were notes and ideas for upcoming episodes but the majority of it…

"Poems!" Helga exclaimed, throwing her hands up and taking back up her pacing. "For years it's trickled off, maybe a poem once or twice a year, just to get it out of my system but today."

Another turn.

"Fifteen! They wouldn't stop flowing out of my pen, my head is still full of flowery prose I can't expel fast enough."

Another turn.

"All these years, why must the one thing I always wanted but still can't have cross an entire continent to torment and tease me? And with Lila," she sneered. "It's almost like high school all over again. Having him that close to me, touching me and scared I'm going to say or do the wrong thing. Never being able to tell him how I feel, how I've felt all this time, how I still feel."

She finally threw herself into a chair and covered her face with her hands exhausted.

"I won't survive these four days." She intoned.

Tad waited a beat before dropping the bombshell.

"Lila and Arnold are separated. Have been for two years. He's just waiting for her to sign the divorce papers."

The words fell like a leaded weight in the middle of the room. Another moment passed before Helga lifted her head from her hands.

"How do you know?"

He grinned. "Arnold told me. You missed a great argument."

She was still too distraught to see the humor in his statement.

"He told you."

"Yep." He was still grinning. "Right after he asked her why she was being so touchy. When she got mad for him coming out and just telling me, he retaliated by asking why after them fighting about this entire trip and him practically demanding she at least take this tour for Daphne, she was suddenly up his behind. His words not mine. And apparently she isn't staying in the hotel room with them, she's got a separate penthouse her job is providing for her."

Helga brightened as he spoke. "They're getting a divorce?"

Tad chuckled. "Keep up Hel. They're getting a divorce, they're barely speaking now and he's here for four days. If that's not a potential for a happy ending, I don't know what is."

As quickly as her face had brightened, the light was suddenly turned off and her eyes went flat.

"There is no such thing as happily ever after," she intoned. "It doesn't matter if he and Lila are separated, divorced, whatever. She still holds his heart. Her look towards me this afternoon was proof of that. I shall merely have to suffer through these four days and be thankful that I was able to see him one last time."

Tad mentally face palmed himself. He loved this maniacal, restless, passionate woman with her flowing words, off the cuff ideas, and careless demeanor, but sometimes he just wanted to shake the stubborn belief she held onto that she could never be happy. Helga Pataki was a tragic character in every meaning of the word up to and including constantly sabotaging her own happiness. As much as she sometimes lamented that the fates never meant for her to find happiness, she was her own worst enemy when it came to her eventual ruination.

There was something wrong when he, the one who had actually did a stint in a mental health facility, was the voice of reason.

"Look," he started, trying to remain measured. The more one tried to convince Helga, the more she argued against it. "Let's wait until rehearsals and see how this goes. I'm willing to bet Lila doesn't show up at all the rest of their time here which will give you enough time to at least talk to Arnold. I didn't say about you-" he held up a hand when he saw her take a breath to speak. "His daughter and her friend are going to be on set and I'm sure he's going to have a million questions, like any devoted parent would. It will at least give you a safe platform in which to talk to him."

She sat silently mulling over his words. Making the right amount of argument that she couldn't dispute was the key and at that moment Tad believed he managed it. Finally, she sighed and relaxed back in the chair she was sitting in.

"You're right." She finally admitted and Tad did a mental fist pump. "I can talk to him about work and at least make his trip interesting. Daphne really seems to be a lovely girl, no matter who her mother is. And as we have a part for her friend, I'd better figure out a place to put Daphne in this episode."

"You're going to give her a speaking part?"

Helga pushed herself from the chair. "As the character Ronnie is playing had two lines, it would be rather unfair if Daphne didn't get a line or two. "She stopped in the kitchen her expression quizzical. "She looks familiar though. I feel like I should know her."

"Who, Daphne?" Tad asked getting up and following her to the kitchen. Helga shook her head as she pulled a plate from the cabinet.

"No, Ronnie. It's weird, but I just have this nagging feeling that I've seen her somewhere before this."

* * *

Arnold opened the door to their hotel suite with a relieved sigh and pushed the door open, letting the girls race in first. On the way back to the hotel there was nothing but excited squealing and run-on rambles that got so bad he thought about telling them both to take a breath at one time. Lila followed in after the girls leaving him to shut the door as he entered last. Ronnie already had her shoes off and was sitting on the couch with her phone out.

"I have to tell Mom!" she exclaimed excited, glancing up at Arnold over the rim of her glasses. "She's never going to believe this!"

"Send her a couple of pictures." He suggested. Standing beside the small kitchen, Lila looked up from her cellphone and smirked as she lifted the phone to her ear.

"Do that." She agreed. "Especially the one with that dark haired boy you kept talking to. Better yet, next time you're there, get a picture with Tad and Hel and send that to your mother."

Arnold turned to glare at her as she spoke into the phone.

"Hello? Yes, this is Lila Sawyer and I…Arnold!"

Arnold reached over to snag the phone from her ear. "She's at the Ritz-Carlton, room 2325. She's more than ready to leave now."

Her eyes flashed as he pressed the end button and tossed the phone onto the counter. "How dare you! You have no right to- "

"Girls, could you go to your room for a moment please?" he called out to the two girls, his eyes not leaving Lila's. Daphne grabbed Ronnie's arm and pulled her into the bedroom, the door shutting behind them. A moment later, he could hear music coming from the room.

"What the hell is your problem?" he asked, struggling to keep his calm. "You have done nothing but make this trip a nightmare for Daphne ever since she found out she won up until we reached the studio and then you were practically all over me. Now, you're being rude for no reason to Ronnie? I know you and Rhonda don't get along, but that is no reason to be so rude to her daughter."

Lila snatched her phone from the counter and tossed her hair back. "I'll thank you to keep your hands off of my property."

"I'd say the same thing except you had your hands all over my property back at the studio. And refresh my memory but weren't you the one going around telling everyone our marriage was over before you even bothered to tell me and you're suddenly pissed because I told Tad?" He stopped, his eyes going cold. "Is that why you were touchy? Because you saw Tad and Helga come out before I did?"

"Don't be ridiculous."

"No, I don't think it's ridiculous. Other than Gerald, Helga was my best friend in high school until our Senior year when she just up and disappeared. Now suddenly she's back and you're all over me? That's not coincidence."

"Arnold honestly." She huffed. "You're reaching. You're the one who practically begged me to play nice for Daphne at that stupid studio."

He folded his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes, studying her for a moment before letting it drop. "Fine. Just go. You don't want to be here and I sure as hell don't want you around the girls if you're going to spend the entire time trying to make Veronica feel any more insignificant than her father has already made her feel. It's like you're back in high school whenever you have to be around her for too long."

She drew up and glared at him haughtily. "You can't tell me when I can and can't see my daughter."

"As long as she and Ronnie are together I will. And since she and Ronnie are going to be pretty much joined at the hip for this entire trip, I'd prefer not to see you again until the flight home."

The knock on the hotel room door, interrupted their discussion. Arnold crossed the room to open the door to the bell hop standing outside.

"I'm here for Ms. Sawyer's bags?" he asked. Arnold pointed to the three large bags still sitting by the door.

"Right there."

The bell hop began picking up the bags and transferring them to the cart and Arnold turned back to Lila. "I'll see you on the flight home. Or better yet, you could just transfer here and not bothering returning to Hillwood."

She picked up her purse and shot Arnold a dirty look. "You'd like that. Trust me Arnold, I'm not leaving either you or Daphne alone for a long time."

"Bye." He waved as she followed the bell hop out the door. "Have fun." He slammed the door on her and leaned against it, heaving out a deep breath.

Peace and quiet.

The door to the guest bedroom cracked open and Daphne poked her head out.

"Is Mom gone?"

Pushing away from the door, Arnold nodded. "She's going to her hotel, Kimba."

"So it's safe?"

He cracked a smile. "It's safe."

The door closed again and the music went silent followed by the door opening and both girls walking out. Veronica was hunched over, looking even smaller than she was. She clutched her phone and looked at him timidly.

"I'm sorry I cause so much trouble Mr. Shortman…" she started. Arnold crossed the room and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Ronnie, you are no trouble at all, ignore Daphne's mom. Daphne invited you here because she wanted you to come with her. So from now on I don't want to hear anything other than excited teenage squealing about meeting your favorite actors." He walked over and picked up the hotel phone. "And what toppings you want on your pizza." 

* * *

It was almost midnight before he got the girls to go to bed. Their bodies were still on East Coast time and he finally manage to convince them that if they didn't get some sleep they were going to be exhausted by the time Anne and the other's showed up the next day.

He walked into the master bedroom and shut the door, taking a moment to revel in the huge elegant room before pulling his cell phone out of his back pocket and dialing Gerald. He knew the man was on midnights this week so he didn't feel bad about calling him at what was probably around three in the morning East Coast time. The phone rang twice before it clicked over and Gerald's deep voice answered.

"Detective Johansson."

"Hey Gerald," Arnold said, sitting on the side of the bed. "Did I wake you up?"

"Very funny." Gerald deadpanned. "Why you still up my man? It's three-fifteen here."

"It's only after midnight. I just got the girls to sleep. Well, to go to bed at least."

"So how was the first day? Are your ears still ringing from the teenage screams?" he chuckled. "I got a text from Timberly earlier saying that even though they're at a resort in the Bahamas, Lyss is bemoaning the fact that Daphne and Ronnie are in California seeing Darren Walker without her. And then apparently Daphne sent pictures which sent Lyss into an overdramatic wailing. So as a spokesperson for my sister, tell Daphne and Ronnie to stop sending pictures to the girls."

Arnold laughed. "I'm not going to tell them that, that'll just get Daphne to start spamming Lyss."

Gerald shared in the laughter. "Arnold, some days your girl reminds me of your grandmother."

Arnold's chuckle trailed off and he smiled fondly. "She is mischievous like Grandma."

"So?" Gerald prompted after a moment of silence. "What's going on? Is it Lila?"

"No. There was a blow out and I sort of hurried her out of the hotel. Remind me to send you pictures of this place, it's incredible."

"You didn't call me at three in the morning to tell me about your sweet hotel room. What's going on?"

As usual, Gerald managed to cut through all the small talk and demand the main issue. Arnold sighed, falling backwards to lay on the king sized bed sideways.

"It's the show. The show writers and executive producers are Curly and Helga."

Gerald was silent and Arnold frowned. "Gerald…"

"So that's the show she's doing." Gerald's voice was quiet. Arnold's frown deepened and he sat up.

"You knew she was in Hollywood?"

A light sigh emanated from Gerald before he answered. "About four years ago she called me. She and I never really got along but that last year, after…well, we kind of gravitated to each other. Not in any sort of romantic way because, dude, it's Helga Pataki, but…" he paused a moment. "We talked more.  
Anyway, she called me and told me she was doing a television show. After I congratulated her she asked me to promise her never to watch it. She wasn't sure it would even get off the ground but it was going to be a teen show. I told her there was never any reason for me to watch that kind of thing so I could easily promise her that. She didn't tell me the name of the show and I never asked. And honestly, I never put two and two together until just this minute."

"Why would she ask you not to watch it? And…you still talk to Helga?"

"Every once in a while." He answered honestly. "I got a text from her last holiday season." There was silence on the other end and Arnold could almost hear the shrug. "Our Senior year was bad man. Not for everyone but it sucked. Helga and I spent a lot of nights in an overnight diner talking about everything. She still holds some of my secrets and I still hold some of hers. We told each other everything because we both figured, fuck it, we each lost the most important thing in our lives what else could hurt us. She was the first to find out I was going into the Academy after school and I was the first, outside of Curly, that knew she was leaving immediately after high school. Sorry Arnold, I mean, you're my best friend, but me and Helga got tied together that Senior year."

Arnold dropped his head forward, rubbing a hand over his tired face. "No. I get it, I do. And I wasn't really the best person to talk to during that time. And I'm sorry.

"Okay, are we done with this bonding moment or do we need to bring out the chocolate and rom-coms?" Gerald asked, breaking the mood. "How was seeing her after all these years?"

"Weird." Arnold admitted. "She was definitely shocked to see me, but after initial brief hug, she kind of…sat in her own corner and ignored everyone around her." He rolled his eyes, remembering the moment. "Lila, in an odd twist, was all over me."

Gerald burst out laughing. "Damn, I can't believe that girl is still jealous after all these years."

"Jealous?"

"Hell yeah, Lila's been jealous of Helga for years. It's so Lila to pull the if-I-can't-have-him-nobody-will attitude the minute she saw Helga."


	13. Chapter Twelve

_Scene: Holly High School Gym_

 _Arthur storms into the locker room, ignoring the other students. He strides to the locker where Marcus is dressing and slams his hand on the locker door, slamming it shut and making Marcus take a surprised step back._

 _Marcus: "What the hell man?"_

 _Arthur: "It's been five days since I've seen you. Five days since I've even heard a peep from you. No calls, no texts, not even a damn high five in the hallways. I should be asking what the hell man?"_

 _Student on the other side of the locker room: "You two need to get a room."_

 _Almost in unison, Arthur and Marcus' heads turn towards the voice._

 _Marcus and Arthur: "Shut up!"_

 _Both teens looked back at each other and Marcus chuckled. Arthur lightly punched his shoulder._

 _Marcus: "Okay, yeah. Sorry about the avoidance thing. But to be fair, you tend not to text or call when you're in the Lisa zone too."_

 _Arthur: "I still say hi to you in the hallways. But you're right. I'll try to do better if you do too."_

 _Marcus stuck out his hand._

 _Marcus: "Deal. We cool?"_

 _Arthur: "Yeah, we're cool."_

 _S4E3 "Support System"_

* * *

At twelve-thirty the next afternoon, a knock came on the door to their hotel room.

Arnold, who was in the kitchenette, looking through the book the hotel provided of places to eat, walked across the area to open the door.

Anne, decked in green shorts and a checkered top that looked more expensive than it should, pulled off her Caprini sunglasses and gave him a winning smile.

"Good afternoon Mr. Shortman, can the girls come out and play?"

He couldn't help it, he chuckled. The young actress reminded him of a younger Rhonda when she used to fake her way through the school staff to get what she wanted. He opened the door further to spot three more girls behind her and a large muscular man standing a little behind them.

"Come on in, I'll yell for the girls."

"No need," Ariel, the redhead, said pushing past Anne and hurrying towards the guest rooms. He heard the door open followed by Ariel calling out. "Are you two ready to shop until Anne drops?"

"I'm not sure if you remember everyone." Anne said, motioning to the two girls next to her. She pointed to the light skinned mixed teen with blond hair. "That's Tamara, she plays Naomi and this is Lana, she plays Stephanie." She patted the shoulder of the athletic brunette who grinned and waved. "And this," she motioned towards the large man standing behind her. "Is Max."

Arnold nodded towards him. "Hello."

To his surprise, the large man's face softened for just a brief moment. "Nice to meet you. Don't worry about your girls Mr. Shortman, I'll make sure nothing happens to them."

"Max is the best there is." Anne added.

"Anne says that because Max is the only one who doesn't care how long she spends shopping." Ariel teased as she returned from the bedroom with Daphne and Ronnie in tow. "Found them!"

Ronnie's eyes were wide behind her glasses, looking at all four girls and the large man in the room like she was suddenly unsure of what to do. Arnold caught the look and knew what it meant immediately. Growing up with lavish parties given every weekend with a house full of strange people she didn't know, Ronnie didn't deal well with strange people, even if the strange people in question were her favorite actors and actresses. She never went out in group of her peers to carnivals, malls, the pier. He could almost see her heels begin to dig into the carpet.

Luckily Daphne notice at the same time and her hand reached out grabbing onto Ronnie's hand and squeezing. "Come on Ronnie, this is going to be fun."

Lana stepped forward, peering at Ronnie. Wrapping an arm around Ronnie's shoulder, she leaned in and pointed towards Max. "This is Max. He's our bodyguard-slash-bag carrier-slash-babysitter. He's also well equipped to deal with actresses who don't want to deal with the public for whatever reason." Her voice lowered to a loud whisper. "He's also a huge teddy bear."

The man in question merely rolled his eyes. But Lana's nonchalant explanation worked. Ronnie laughed, relaxing. Squeezing back on Daphne's hand, she nodded and with Lana's arm still around her, the girls going the small group.

"What time do you want them back Mr. Shortman?" Max asked. "Because if there isn't a time frame, Anne will shop until the stores close."

He eyed his daughter who couldn't stop grinning. "How about six?"

Anne groaned dramatically. "That's only five hours!"

"You'll survive." Tamara quipped.

"Oh!" He felt around in his back pocket. "You two need money. Um, hold on a minute while I go get some…"

"Taken care of!" Anne announced. With a flourish, she pulled out two cards and handed them to the girls. "Spending money was part of the prize. So no worries. Oh and-" With another flourish, she handed the girls two bags. "Season three a whole two months before it comes out in stores."

Daphne's eyes widened. "Oh I know what I'm doing tonight!" she announced. Arnold took the bags from the girls as they handed them off.

"While you two are out, maybe I can catch up."

Anne feigned stunned. "Shame on you! Not being all caught up."

Arnold grinned. It really was amazing how much this actress reminded him of Ronnie's mother when she had been a teen.

"Get out. Have fun girls and be careful."

Daphne hugged her dad before returning to the departing group. "You going to be okay?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me." He lifted the bag. "I have these to keep me company."

The group walked into the hallway and the door shut behind them, leaving him alone in the room. 

* * *

Six girls piled into the limo and Max took his place in the front with the driver. Tamara whooped as the limo smoothly pulled out of the circular driveway and onto the street.

"I've needed an off day!" she announced. Lana, who was sitting next to Ronnie, merely rolled her eyes

" We just started production two weeks ago."

"Look, I am not looking forward to this last season." Tamara stated, sticking out a sandaled foot and lightly kicking at Lana's leg. She was too far to even reach but the intent was there. "We all know this season is going to be nothing but one huge emotional roller coaster. I mean, look how we're starting off?"

"Well, somebody has to get the happy ending, right?" Lana questioned. "I mean, we have two couples practically engaged, I refuse to believe nothing comes out of it."

Ariel snickered, elbowing Tamara. "You think somebody's getting pregnant?"

"That's so obvious." Daphne piped up. Four heads turned in her direction expressions ranging from amused to curious. She bit her lip, blushing. "Sorry."

"No, no. We're so used to seeing the show from the inside, it'll be interesting to see how an outside source sees the show." Tamara insisted.

"Even Twitter can't give us the actual verdict." Anne added. "Usually it's just people excited that you're interacting with them, they can't give an actual review."

Daphne looked at the four teen she'd watched for three season on the screen looking at her for an answer. A quick glance towards Ronnie who was sitting in between her and Lana told her the girl was still overwhelmed and Daphne probably didn't do her any favors by opening her mouth.

"Trust me, we're not going to jump you if we don't agree with you." Ariel laughed. "All of us are fans of the show too. Anne is constantly trying to get Tad to put Brooke and Theo together."

"And has not yet been successful." Lana piped up.

"It's only a matter of time." Anne insisted. "Because honestly, if nothing happens, Allen and I are going to do a fan vid to get closure."

The others howled in laughter, breaking the awkwardness in the limo. Tamara sniffed, wiping her eyes and still giggling.

"Girl, you're ridiculous." She giggled.

"Okay, no hold on, I want to hear this." Ariel insisted, trying to stifle her own giggles and waving her hands towards everyone else to calm down. "You two are emotionally invested in this show. I want to hear theories."

Daphne cast another quick glance towards Ronnie who was looking at her nervously. Shrugging, she looked at the girls and grinned.

"Okay, but just remember, you guys asked for this. My friends and I haven't spent three years building up theories for nothing."

On the other side of Ronnie, Lana, leaned forward looking towards Daphne. "Oh, this is gonna be good."

Taking a deep breath, Daphne dove in. 

* * *

Arnold was lost. The weekends when Daphne was at her mother's he usually was either working or involved in something else. On rare occasions when they both had coinciding off time, he and Gerald would get together for a night of food, drink and talking. He didn't like the silence of his house when his daughter wasn't there so it was a little disconcerting standing in a huge empty hotel suite trying to figure out what to do to pass the time while his daughter and one of her best friends had the time of their lives.

His eyes landed on the two bags still sitting on the small table in the middle of the living area and he briefly contemplated doing what he'd teased his daughter about; breaking down and ordering room service and just vegging out to season three of Ever After. Because, truth be told, he was curious to see what the girls had been talking about non-stop for the last several months. All he knew was someone got pre-engaged and somebody else got together.

He picked up the folder with the menu in it again, trying to find something that wasn't going to cost and arm and a leg to eat when the phone in the hotel room rang. He lowered the folder, staring at the ringing phone for a moment, before reaching over and picking it up. For a brief second his heart leapt uncomfortably in his chest at the thought of someone calling to tell him that the girls had gotten into an accident before it was brushed away. If something had been wrong, surely they would've called his cell phone first?

"Hello?"

"Arnold?" the voice was masculine and familiar.

"Yes?"

"Hey, it's Tad. My sources say you're alone today."

He grinned into the phone at Tad's easy tone. "I…might have been abandoned by my teenagers."

"Great! What do you say to lunch? I have some time off and I'm currently in the lobby of this very nice hotel. We can eat in the restaurant here or wander around the block for something else."

Previous plans were forgotten for the chance to have conversation and catching up with old friends. "The restaurant here sounds nice. Let me get my shoes, give me five minutes."

"Fabulous! I'll get us a table."


	14. Chapter Thirteen

_Scene: Entrance of Holly Hills High School_

 _Brooke and Naomi walk into the school; Naomi is telling Brooke about her dream the night before until she realizes that Brooke is not paying attention to her. Rather the teen looks lost in her own thoughts._

 _Naomi: "You look lost. Did something happen last night? How was your date with Max?"_

 _Brooke takes two more steps before realizing that Naomi has asked her a question._

 _Brooke: "what? Oh, um…it was okay. I didn't expect much so…you know."_

 _Naomi: "You've been lost in thought all morning. Are you sure everything is okay?"_

 _Brooke: "Of course. I…" [glances around to make sure nobody is listening in] "I merely had an odd dream last night. You know those kind that don't leave when you wake up?"_

 _Naomi: "Like the time I dreamt that giant lizards were attacking the school and woke up terrified that I was about to be eaten."_

 _Brooke: [murmuring] "Something like that yeah."_

 _She tossed her hair over her shoulder and straightens her spine, her expression changing from thoughtful to arrogant._

 _Brooke: "No matter. It'll fade soon enough. Now, did you see those horrid shoes Amber was wearing yesterday? They were bad enough but the matching bag?"_

 _Naomi laughs and picks up where Brooke left off. As the two girls walk further down the hallway the crowd almost parts to reveal Theodore walking on the other side of the hall. His arm is tucked into Helen's, escorting the blond and talking softly to her. She watches him as they approach, the images of her dream coming back vividly in her mind. As if he senses someone watching him, Theodore looked up in time to spot Brooke and Naomi walking past them. Their eyes meet and he tilts his head in question just slightly before following it up with a careful smile. She watches him for one more minute before they pass and the moment is over. She doesn't turn around, but the confused, thoughtful look is back on her face as they reach their classroom._

 _S4E10 "Confessions"_

* * *

It took closer to ten minutes. Going down twenty-five floors in an elevator that seemed to stop on every other floor to pick people up or drop them off. Finally, it stopped in the lobby and Arnold got out following the signs to the restaurant. He nodded to the greeter who smiled pleasantly at him. Briefly he wondered if blonde outnumbered any other hair color in this city as she politely asked him if it was just him this afternoon.

"I'm meeting a friend."

On cue, he noticed Tad standing up and raising a hand at him. He nodded in acknowledgement and the blond looked back. He passed her and headed towards the table where Tad was standing, hand outstretched as Arnold approached.

Arnold clasped his hand, pulling him in for a brief clasp on the back.

"It's good to see you." He said, releasing Tad's hand. Tad grinned back as he sat. He pulled his sunglasses from the top of his head and tucking one earpiece into the neck of his tee shirt.

"It's good to see you too. I didn't know if you'd be out seeing the sights or playing tourist so honestly, I just took a chance."

"No, I'm glad you did." Arnold insisted as the waiter filled their water glasses. "Honestly, I was planning on ordering room service and watching season three that Daphne and Ronnie got today."

Tad feigned hurt. "You haven't seen season three yet? For shame Arnold."

He chuckled. "I think that was pretty much the same reaction I got from Anne also."

"Yeah, I fear I may be rubbing off on her." He said, picking up the menu.

A comfortable silence fell as both men scanned the menu for something to eat. Tad closed his menu and looked across the table at Arnold who was still scanning the menu with a contemplative look.

"I know I promised I wouldn't come out here alone."

Arnold looked at the dark haired man over the menu before closing it and putting it down.

"There's probably a good reason. And honestly, I can't claim I'm surprised."

"Normally, I would've dragged her here kicking and screaming and hurtling obscenities in my general direction. But she literally crashed not three hours ago."

"Crashed?"

"When I came home last night she was on her computer typing out storylines. She gets that way sometimes, inspiration strikes and she'll be there for hours until either she finishes or she runs out of steam." He took a sip of water. "I'm willing to bet she has done at least two rough drafts for scripts last night. I was in the kitchen this morning making breakfast when I heard her finally moving around upstairs and then nothing. When I went to check on her, she'd managed to pass out across her bed still dressed in what she was wearing yesterday."

Arnold swallowed down the sudden lump in his throat with some water. He looked into the water glass silently for a moment before looking back up at Tad. "You and Helga…live together?" He wasn't sure why his stomach twisted at the thought, it wasn't like they'd been close for years. In fact, if he hadn't come on this trip he would've been unaware of this fact.

The waitress came over to take their order and the knot tightened as he watched Tad flirt with the waitress. Again, he hadn't seen either Tad or Helga in years but the blonde woman didn't deserve to have someone she obviously trusted disrespect her by flirting with blonde waitresses when she wasn't around. Or did he do it when they were together also? He gave the same woman his order and handed her the menu.

Tad waited until left before speaking. "Oh yeah, we've lived together since we moved here. Started out in a dingy studio apartment we paid way too much for before we both made it enough to upgrade to a less crappy apartment and then finally the condo we own now. As always, Hel's been the only one who is willing to put up with my eccentricities." His eyes widened and he shook his head. "Oh…Oh no, you don't think…no, Hel and I aren't together. God no, we'd kill each other. It's not like that at all."

The knot loosened in his stomach and he felt confused. Why was he upset about the lifestyles of a woman he hadn't seen in almost twenty years?

"It's not my business." He finally said. Tad laughed.

"I saw the look on your face. The fact that I was blatantly flirting with our waitress while my supposed girlfriend was at home, offended your ever present sense of honor." He shook his head slowly in amusement. "Glad to see some things haven't changed. You'll be happy to know that if Hel and I were dating, she'd pound my ass into the ground if I even thought of flirting with another woman."

He tried to hide it but he felt the edge of his mouth lift slightly. "Glad to see some things haven't changed." He parroted. 

* * *

"It looks like Anne has found her people." Lana stated dryly as the six walked down the white sidewalks of Beverly Hills with Max in tow. Beside her, Tamara snorted lightly.

"I always knew she was a closet fan."

Ariel gave them both a slight amused frown. "There is no closet about it. She and Allen go online and role-play their characters on twitter. Nobody wants Brooke and Theo to be together as much as Anne and Allen. I'm surprised they haven't started dating in real life."

Lana grinned knowingly. "You mean like some other people we won't mention?"

"Exactly like that."

Walking in front of them Daphne was still talking, her hands waving around elaborately at times. Every once in a while Ronnie would throw in a comment or a dissent but for the most part it was Daphne's show.

"Out of all the couples on the show, Sophie and Marcus have been the most loyal and steady. Even with the added stressors of them being best friends with the most dysfunctional non-couple in the show, they've managed to stay strong. So although I don't think it's going to be a teen pregnancy, I do think that something major is going to be thrown in their way that they'll have to overcome. Teen pregnancy is an obvious troupe and Tad and Hel don't do obvious."

"Even if they don't do obvious, somebody has to end up with the obligatory drug issue." Anne argued. "As troupe as it is, it's a reality in high school."

"And I totally agree they're going to pull it out, but there's going to be a reason for it and it may or may not have a happy ending." Daphne agreed.

"Whose happy ending it is anyway?" Ronnie asked as they stepped into a store. "The line _Not every story has a happy ending_ doesn't necessarily mean that there won't be any happy endings, merely that the happy ending might not be expected. What isn't a happy ending for one person might be someone else's happy ending."

Anne looked at her and Ronnie almost retreated into herself. Suddenly Ariel laughed and clasped a hand on Ronnie's shoulder.

"That is a damn clever explanation." She said. Anne narrowed her eyes.

"I agree. I never thought of it that way." Brightening, she threw an arm around Ronnie. "Come on, we've got some shopping to do."

* * *

The teasing from earlier about Anne having to be given a deadline or she would shop until the stores closed were not exaggerated. Over three hours had passed since they'd started the trip and Anne didn't even look tired. Ronnie, on the other hand, had taken to sitting next to Max at each new stop and reading on her phone while the other girls discussed colors and fabrics and which shoes matched which shirt.

Anne picked up a jumper and turned to ask Lana a question when her eyes fell on Ronnie sitting quietly leaned up against Max. Turning around fully, she lifted the jumper just enough so from her view the jumper covered part of Ronnie. Then she grinned widely.

"Ronnie!" she called out still holding up the jumper. The dark haired girl glanced up, her glasses sliding halfway down her nose. She eyed the jumper critically before shrugging.

"Come here!" Anne called out. Ronnie's head jerked up and she looked at Anne like she had lost her mind. Daphne poked her head around a rack of clothes to watch the exchange.

"Why?" Ronnie asked cautiously.

"You need a makeover."

"I don't do makeovers."

"That's ridiculous, everyone likes a makeover."

"Not when you've been made over your entire life." Ronnie retorted, looking back down at her phone.

"Come on, Ronnie," Anne cajoled. "I'll be fun."

"For you maybe. I've had quite enough of people dressing me up in my life, thank you."

"You know you'll have to get make up for the show, right?"

"That's different."

"One outfit." She bargained. "An outfit for tomorrow's lunch. Something that turns Allen's head."

Daphne hid a grin at Ronnie's head lifting at that comment.

"Trust me, putting me in the skimpiest, flashiest thing isn't going to turn anyone's head. At least not for the right reasons."

"Like I would put you in something skimpy." Anne frowned. "Who do you take me for? That would be tres tacky. I would never put me in anything tacky therefore I would never put you in anything tacky. We look too similar for me to do something that mean." She wiggled the hanger holding the jumper and the outfit flapped. "Trust me, I would never put anyone in anything they felt uncomfortable in."

Ronnie studied her for a moment, before looking at Max. The big man didn't look up from his paper.

"I'm only here to protect you from over enthusiastic fans and paparazzi. I can't do anything about 108 pound forces of nature."

Sighing heavily, she shut off her app and slid the phone in her back pocket. "One outfit."

The smile was triumphant. "One outfit." She promised.

* * *

"…and I've been working at the American Museum of Natural History for well over twelve years." Arnold finished.

The two men had talked through lunch and wandered over to the bar to continue their conversations.

"And your parents?" Tad asked. Arnold smiled fondly.

"About two years after we graduated, my grandma broke her hip. No longer able to move as easily as she used to send her into a depressive state. I sent a letter to my parents to tell them about grandma and grandpa couldn't take care of her. Plus, he was getting slower too.

I guess about five months later they showed up on the doorstep with all their stuff and stayed in the States to take care of grandma and grandpa. Once my mom and dad came home, grandma's mood improved. She still couldn't move as well but she was still crazy in a fun way. Grandma finally passed away a couple of months before Lila and I were married." He grinned thoughtfully. "Which was kind of good because for whatever reason Grandma really didn't like Lila. Now, I think she was psychic. Grandpa died a year later. Mom and Dad renovated the entire building into four apartments instead of boarding rooms and live in the upstairs one. They're really nice apartments and the other two families that live there seem nice too."

He stopped to take a drink and ran his finger through the condensation on the glass after he put it down. "After Daphne was born, my parents got bored with staying at home so they decided to travel the globe. They come back once a year for about a month or two and then they're off again to whatever location takes their fancy. They're currently traveling Indonesia right now."

"Damn, who knew you'd have the jet setting parents." Tad laughed. "And you never felt the itch to just drop everything and go with them?"

Arnold shrugged. "I think it would be fun for a while but I grew up with a stable household. I prefer stability. The year I spent with my parents back when we were younger was great but one of the reasons I came back was because living in that environment was too much for me. Call me spoiled but I couldn't handle not having routine and having to worry if the hut we were living in would survive the spring rains and a potential mudslide. Because those happened."

Tad laughed.

"So I came back, got married, had a child, got a job and went to school. It was even better because my job paid for me to finish my education." He gave a mysterious smile. "Just last year I finally received my Doctorate in anthropological studies. Lila doesn't know because we were separated when I got it and I only use the title at work. My parents and Daphne know but…I haven't told anyone else."

Tad lifted the bottle to his mouth to cover his gaping. "You're a Doctor? That's pretty big."

Another shrug. "It makes my paycheck at bit more, and it means I have to publish at least once every ten years but other than that." He lifted his beer. "I'm sure you'd rather hear about something else other than my school habits. How did you and Helga land the most popular teen show of this generation?"

"Right place at the right time." Tad answered. "We wrote for a couple of sitcoms and police procedurals and then we were hired on for Modern Susie,the dramedy, a couple of years back. The rating sucked when we came on and they were looking for anything to pull it out of the crapper. It lasted another season before being taken off the air because they just couldn't come back from the ratings drop, but Hel and I won an Emmy for one of the episodes we both co-wrote. The critics called us the hottest thing in the SWG and suddenly we became the people to go to if a show needed saving. About four years ago we came to the CEO of WCB and shot him the idea for Ever After. We pulled Urban Legends back from the brink and pushed it back to being the powerhouse it started out as, which was no small feat, so he owed us. He approved it and three years later, here we are with the highest rated show on the channel."

"It sounds as if you two have been very successful."

Tad picked up his glass nodding slowly and swirling the ice before he took a drink. When he looked back to Arnold there was a curious gleam in his eyes.

"Do you see any of our old classmates?" He asked casually. Arnold shrugged.

"A couple. Harold and Patty are married and have a daughter who is one of Daphne's close friends. Gerald, of course, he works as a detective on the Hillwood Police department. I see Eugene usually when he's in town for the holidays."

"And Veronica's mother?" He asked. "How is she?"

Arnold glanced up watching Tad's calm expression. The man's lips twitched just slightly.

"Ronnie has too much of the Wellington-Lloyd look in her for me not to figure out whose child she is." He looked back down at his glass swirling the ice again. "I'm also one of the very few people to know that Veronica was her favorite grandmother and she was planning on naming her daughter after the woman if she ever had children. I think Nadine might be the only other person to share that secret."

Arnold swallowed hard. He'd walked right into that conversation. "She's…she's good. She's not the Rhonda you remember from high school."

Another lip quirk. "Ronnie is anything but aggressive and haughty. I figure Rhon's changed a bit."

Arnold nodded, relaxing. "She lives in town. Ronnie goes to public school and Rhonda works in the city."

"And Ronnie's dad?"

"Dashiell?" Arnold smirked. "Rhonda once said that the only good thing that ever came from her marriage was Veronica."

"So you two are friends." It wasn't a question. Arnold took a slow sip of his drink watching Tad as he did. The other man didn't seem agitated, annoyed or in the least bit aggressive. He sat on the other side of the table calmly drinking and not saying anything.

"Rhonda and I were always friends." Arnold finally answered. "There is a tight group of teen girls involving both her daughter and mine so I see a lot of Rhonda, Patty, and Timberly. Plus, she allows her inner Rhonda out when Lila is being particularly annoying as both women still can't stand each other. But that's just a bonus."

Tad chuckled as he lifted the glass to his lips again. "I always did love when Rhonda release the inner bitch on someone deserving." 

* * *

Arnold was sitting on the couch watching the premiere of season three when the door to the hotel room opened and two girls rushed in carrying bags.

"What in the world are those?" he asked, pausing the show and staring at both girls.

"Clothes!" Daphne exclaimed. "We had some money and Anne bought us some things. Well, she had to twist Ronnie's arm, but we found something."

"Daphne," Arnold chastised. "We came here to see your favorite actors not to have them buy you stuff."

"It's not my fault!" Daphne exclaimed. "Anne insisted. She wouldn't take no for an answer."

"It's true." Ronnie confirmed. "As much as I tried to get out of it, Anne had me trying on clothes and insisted on buying us both an outfit."

"You tried on clothes?" Rhonda couldn't get Ronnie into a dressing room without threats at any time so for the teen to willingly try on clothes…

"I didn't want to." Ronnie confirmed. "I was outnumbered and they ganged up on me."

"Maybe a tiny bit." Daphne agreed. "But it was so worth it. What are you doing?"

"Huh? Oh, getting ready to watch season three."

"Without us?" Daphne dropped her bags by the kitchenette and started to walk towards him. He held up a hand before she took a step.

"Hold on, you're not leaving those bags right there. Take them into your room. I'll wait."

She scooped up the bags with one hand and grabbed Ronnie's arm with the other hurrying towards the other bedroom. "Don't start it without us!" she yelled back. Arnold grinned and sat back on the couch and pulled out his phone to text Rhonda.

 **Someone got your daughter to try on clothes.**

A moment later his phone beeped letting him know he had a text.

 **What?! Who is this magical person?**

He grinned and texted back.

 **The girl who plays Brooke on the show.**

The girls came running out of the room as his phone beeped again.

 **I don't care what you have to do Arnold, you bring that girl home with you!**

"Your mother wants me to kidnap Anne Cummings when we come home." He mentioned to Ronnie as the girls sat down. The dark haired girl rolled her eyes as she pushed up her glasses.

"It was a one-time deal." She answered. "Not even Allen Adams could get me to try on more clothes."

The response elicited a giggle from Daphne and a sigh from Arnold as he pushed the play button.

"I'm sure you mother would be delighted to hear that." He told her as the screen brightened.


	15. Chapter Fourteen

_Holly Hills High School:_

 _Brooke drags Theo into an empty classroom. The look on his face is bemused curiosity._

 _Brooke: "What did I do for you to keep being my damn knight in tattered armor?"_

 _Theo: "You pulled me into an abandoned classroom to ask me that? Or is it you don't want your friends to see me talking to you?"_

 _Brooke: Knock it off, my friends have seen me talk to you millions of times. And do you honestly think I care what my friends think?"_

 _He gives a shrug as to concede her point._

 _Brooke: "Why do you keep saving me? From idiots at my parties, from idiots at this school, everyone."_

 _Theo: "Are you complaining? Brooke, I've been your silent shadow for years now. I'm beginning to think you insist I come to your parties because you need a free bodyguard."_

 _Brooke huffs in annoyance and takes one step towards him, her feet stomping hard on the classroom floor. Her shoes almost echo in the empty room._

 _Brooke: "You are an idiot Teddy; you know why I keep you around."_

 _Theo's bemused grin was back._

 _Theo: "No, goddess, I actually don't."_

 _With a frustrated growl, Brooke grabs a handful of Theo's shirt and pulled him towards her, her mouth landing on his before the shocked yelp can finish leaving his mouth. The kiss is short, angry. Brooke lets go of him before he can regain his balance._

 _Brooke: "God, why do I have to do everything all the time. Could you just take some intuitive once in a while?"_

 _Theo's look of shock slowly morphs into a look of pure mischief. With a wicked smirk, he leans back and locks the classroom door without taking his gaze from her._

 _Theo: "As my goddess demands."_

 _He reaches out and grabs her waist, hauling her towards him. Her heels skid on the floor as he drops his head and gives her a searing kiss. Her purse falls to the floor, his books get knocked off of the desk he put them on when she dragged him into the room, in favor of him lifting her up and placing her on the top of the desk. Brooke is kissing him back, her nails digging into his tee shirt, her legs spreading far enough that he can step in between them, her knees digging into his hips. The movements are rough, jerky, desperate. Theo's hands are in Brooke's hair, and one slides down to her shirt, lifting the silk material up her stomach…_

 _Brooke suddenly sits up in her bed, gasping for breath, her hand clutching the neckline of her tank top. She looks around the darkened bedroom almost searchingly before falling back onto her mattress with a frustrated sigh._

 _The camera closes in on her face where there is a confused yet frustrated look._

 _S4E10" Confessions"_

* * *

Thirty-two hours of internal ranting and manic writing followed by thirteen hours of non-interrupted sleep had taken its toll. Helga clutched her espresso tightly as she walked into the quiet and empty sound stage. She was going to have to call Jennifer and set up an appointment at the end of this week. The anti-depressants were working but the manic episode had made her nervous. She hadn't had one of those in years and she knew exactly what had set it off. The sooner her past got out of her present the better.

And yet, she thought as she flipped on the lights to the set and the hallway of Holly Hills High School was illuminated, there was a small part of her that didn't want her past to leave. Not just yet. Seeing Arnold again, after all these years, had given her the still familiar spark of excitement and nervousness in the pit of her stomach that she had missed. And although she wasn't fond of her manic episodes, she did her best work while in the thorough of one. And if there was ever one thing Arnold Shortman ever unknowingly did for her, it was inspire her.

In the meantime, she needed to pick up the scripts to pass out to the kids when they came by this afternoon. With two new people to block and mold, she was going to need every drop of her espresso to keep moving. Possibly another one also.

Leaving her stuff at the set, she walked the short block over to the production studio to pick up the copies of the scripts.

"Morning." Belinda chirped brightly as Helga stepped into the building.

"It is too early to be that perky." Helga deadpanned as she walked to the brunette's desk. Belinda laughed.

"Not if you haven't been to sleep and are running on Red Bull and sugar." She answered. Helga grinned at the girl.

"You are going to crash by noon and remind me to put it on my schedule to come back here and see that."

"I'll send you a text." Belinda said as she popped the top of another can. "The scripts are on that table."

"Thanks Belinda."

She walked back with the box, edging the door open with her hip as she walked back into the still empty studio. Dropping the box on the nearest table, she opened it and pulled the producer's copies of the script that lay on the top of the stack. Walking back to her chair she picked up her espresso, opened the script, walked towards the set, pulled a pen from her pocket and began going through the script.

She was halfway through mentally blocking the script when the sound of one of the set doors opening caught her attention. She glanced at her watch realizing it was almost eleven. She had to run back to the production studio to see if Belinda was still awake or crashed on her desk in a pool of her own drool.

"Tad?" she called out as she walked down the fake hallway of the high school. "Your script is on my chair."

The tell-tale click of heels told her it wasn't Tad that had entered the set moments before Lila came into view dressed in a light blue wrap dress with matching heels.

"I'm not Curly, sorry." She stated. Helga lowered the script and looked at the redhead.

"You're right, he's cuter. And it's Tad. What do you want Lila?"

"We need to have a talk."

She approached the set and Helga frowned at the overwhelming sense of déjà vu.

"I don't think we have anything to talk about Lila. Your daughter won the contest, you've already signed the paperwork so now you're just here as a curtesy."

"I'm not talking about Daphne." Lila waved a hand dismissively. "I'm talking about that little scene with my husband the other day."

For once Helga drew a blank, trying to figure out what Lila was talking about. She frowned.

"What scene? I haven't seen Arnold since you all walked in here a couple of days ago."

"Exactly." Lila jabbed a finger towards her. "Your little hug that was more than a little inappropriate. He's a married man."

Her frown turned into a scowl. "Look Lila, I didn't hug Arnold, he hugged me. And what the hell are you talking about, from what I heard you two were separated."

"Figures Curly would tell you that." Lila sneered. "We are still married and working on a reconciliation. I would appreciate it if you would remember that. You had your chance years ago and gave it up. He's taken, don't embarrass yourself by trying to rekindle something that isn't there."

The déjà vu returned stronger and Helga realized why; this was a version of the conversation they had in high school and the conversation between Lisa and Helen she'd just did the blocking for. The difference was they weren't in high school anymore and Helga wasn't about to be dictated to by a nobody. Her scowl deepened and her eyes flashed in fury.  
"No, you listen here bucko," She snapped, "You are in no position to dictate anything to me. You convinced me Arnold didn't want anything to do with me back in high school and like an idiot I stepped back and let you have him. It seems like you're the one who screwed it all up so you don't get to come up in my place of business and tell me what I can and can't do." She stormed off the set and strode towards Lila. Lila straightened, her face furious.

"You had your chance Pataki, and just like everything else in your life, you went and screwed it up. Don't ruin my life because you want to reminisce and wax poetic about a high school crush."

"You ruined your own damn life. And the only mistake I made back then was not telling you to shove it up your ass. I will do what I want, when I want and if that includes talking to Arnold, there isn't a damn thing you can do about it. In fact, little miss perfect, you've made a huge tactical error. This is my world, I run this show and I say who stays and who doesn't. Gary!" she bellowed the name and a moment later the doors to the stage opened again to let in two large security guards.

"You yelled Helga?" the taller one asked.

Helga pointed at Lila. "Ms. Sawyer is no longer allowed on the premises. Please make sure she returns her VIP badge and escort her to the gates."

Lila spun on Helga livid. "You can't do that! My daughter is here!"

"Daphne still has a parent allowed on the studio and yes I can. Now, get the hell off my set, get the hell out of my studio and get the hell out of my life."

She stood there long after Gary and Mason "escorted" Lila from the sound stage and long after she could no longer hear Lila arguing loudly with both men. Her chest was heaving, her hands shook and she could feel the hot burning sensation in her throat and eyes which meant she was close to tears.

She wanted to punch something. She wanted to scream. She wanted Tad here to calm her down before the kids showed up because she knew, **she knew** , that if she didn't find a way to displace this anger she was going to turn it out on the kids and as of yet, they hadn't done anything to deserve that.

Instead, she threw her script across the room and screamed; loud and raw, tearing at her throat as it ripped from her body. Her fists clenched involuntary and she punched at the nearest thing to her which happened to be a wooden table. The table shook and her knuckles protested loudly, skin splitting and blood appearing on her fingers.

She hissed shaking her hand out and looking around for a towel or something. She felt a bit better even if her hand didn't.

On cue, the door to the sound stage opened and Tad walked in holding a to-go cup and leading a small group of people.

"Morning!" he announced brightly. "I figured you needed another espresso and look who I found on my way in."

Daphne waved at her while Ronnie yawned. Arnold was behind them, talking low on his cell phone. As they grew nearer, Tad's eyes zeroed in on her bleeding hand. He looked at her knowingly and held out the cup.

"Drink this. I'll be right back."

She took the drink with her good hand and took a sip as Tad walked over to a metal cabinet and opened it. He pulled out a first aid kit and walked back. Daphne looked worried.

"Are you okay?" she asked. Helga nodded, honestly feeling much better after punching her anger into the table.

"I'll be fine." She answered "The rest of the kids should be here within the next ten minutes and we'll get the scripts passed out before you guys go to lunch.

Tad dropped the kit on the table not even mentioning the blood on one spot of it, opened the kit and began cleaning her knuckles. Another knowing look passed between them as Arnold shoved his phone back into his pocket and let out a frustrated sigh.

His eyes set on Helga's hand as he turned back to them and he gave her a look.

"That have anything to do with my phone call?" he asked quietly. The girls were wandering around the sound stage, eyeing the set. Helga shrugged as Tad wrapped her hand.

"It depends, who was on the phone?"

He eyed her hand again before his eyes strayed to the bloody napkins on the table beside a leftover bloody imprint on the table then came back to her.

"You didn't connect with her face, did you?"

"I'm not that stupid." She snapped. "But you need to get your wife under control when you get home." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to calm down. "I regret to inform you that she is no longer welcome on the premises."

His eyes widened fractionally and a smile slid across his face. "That might be the best news I've heard this week. And for the record, we're separated."

"You might want to tell her that," She couldn't help the acid in her voice. She tried but it slipped in on its own violation. She hated that she sounded like a jealous ex-girlfriend especially since she had no claim over him…ever. "She told me you were reconciling."

Tad choked back a laugh as he finished her hand and Arnold's eyes grew wider.

"She what? That is news to me. She'd have to get rid of the flavor of the week first and that's not going to happen. There is no reconciliation."

The door opened and the kids started filing in, the sound stage suddenly full of talking and laughter. Tad patted Helga's shoulder and left the two to walk towards the teens. And just like that, Helga felt like an awkward teen again, standing in front of her crush not sure how to end the conversation.

"Yeah, well…" This was ridiculous. "Go sit down or something so we can get this show on the road."

He chuckled lowly, his eyes drooping to that half lidded gaze that still made her stomach do flips. Stupid stomach.

"Whatever you say, Helga."

Her breath caught in her throat and she felt that familiar tingle. Her good fist clenched and she stalked past him and towards the kids. She couldn't think about him right at that moment. If she did, she'd never get anything finished.

Tad was passing out script as she approached and some of the kids were already flipping through the script, trying to find their line, trying to figure out the plot and, for some, to see who had romance scenes.

"So, nothing for Brooke and Teddy yet?" Anne asked. Tad ignored her.

"Wait, there's half a script for Sofia and Marcus though," Joan piped up. She grinned at her male romantic lead. "It looks like we get some decent action early in this season."

"Great, it contrasts with the huge fight between Helen and Lisa towards the end." Ariel countered, flipping through the back of the script.

"Could you all just go to lunch and pick apart our script there?" Helga asked exasperatedly. "Not here in front of us where we're going to tell you all to just suck it up."

"We could do that," Anne teased. "But then you wouldn't hear all of our brilliant ideas."

"Oh I'm sure we'll hear them all by filming." Tad countered. Rebecca looked up from her script and frowned at Helga's bandaged hand.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

A couple of the others glanced up and in the direction of Helga. She rolled her eyes and huffed out a breath.

"I'm fine. Just got into a fight with a door. Now go to lunch, take the girls and for cripe's sake, do not teach them the wrong way to do these scenes!"

Several chuckles came from the crowd. Anne grabbed Ronnie's hand and pulled. "Come on, let's go get lunch. You can even sit next to Allen; since you have an entire scene with him, you're going to have to get used to sitting near him without blushing and stammering."

Ronnie's eyes grew wide and she looked franticly towards Daphne who was being drug along by Ariel and Rebecca, both who were asking her questions. Tad glanced back at Helga, a grin on his face.

"There's no way this can go wrong at all."

She snorted.

"I've got a lunch date with Tessa in accounting. Want me to bring you back anything?"

"No, but check on Belinda and make sure she hasn't passed out in a puddle of her own drool."

He laughed. "This is going to be a great story, I can tell." He cast a glance towards Arnold who was sitting in one of the director's chairs texting. "You going to be okay?"

She turned around to look at him before turning back. "I'll be fine. I have lunch here and I'm sure he'll get bored in a minute and shove off."

"Or he could stay here and you two could talk."

"Go away, Tad."

He threw out a wave, snickering as he walked off. "See you in two hours. Later Arnold!"

Arnold glanced up giving a wave and noticing that everyone else had left.

"Kids go to lunch?" he asked as he stood up and slid his phone back into his pocket. She nodded.

"Kids went to lunch."

"Where's Tad?"

"Lunch date with a brunette in accounting."

The half lidded gaze came back, along with the familiar tingle in her stomach. "So we're alone?"

Her breath caught again and she silently cursed her traitorous body. "Don't get any bright ideas bucko."

Now he was just teasing her, with that look and that low chuckle of his. "I was thinking we could grab some lunch."

"Brought mine." She answered. "Wasn't sure how long I was going to be here." She hesitated for a moment before deciding _what the hell._ "There's enough though, to share. If you want."

He smiled at her then, the happy smile that had always made her knees weak when it was directed at her. And it seemed it still did. She fought to stay upright and control her breathing before she swooned. Which was ridiculous actually, how long had it been since anyone had made her swoon?

"I'd like that." He said, unaware of her internal battle with her emotions. "How about after lunch you show me Holly Hills?"

* * *

 **AN: I have a Twitter! The link (I think) is on my author's page. I'll be posting links to the fics, updates, random musing and other whatnots. If you need one more person to follow or want to watch me fangirl the closer it gets to The Jungle Movie. You can find me under MouseNine9.**

 **Hope you enjoyed these two chapters. There's only going to be one chapter update next week, but it's a big chapter. Thanks for reading and stay tuned!**


	16. Chapter Fifteen

_Senior year- September_

" _Don't give me that, we haven't hung out in months. Hell, we haven't even talked in weeks, so don't you dare tell me that I'm avoiding you!" Helga was livid, standing before him, her fists clenched tightly at her sides, her eye flashing. He was just as mad. What was supposed to be just a slight reproof had blown up into a drawn out battle in the back parking lot of the school. His eyes narrowed dangerously._

" _Don't put this on me Helga-" he began, but she blew over him, just like she always did._

" _You're the one who's spent the last five months so far up Lila's ass you can't see anyone else." She snarled. "Even Gerald hasn't seen you more than a handful of times this past summer!"_

" _Gerald and I have an understanding." He snapped, finally at the end of his rope. He was sick of listening to her badmouth Lila, he'd heard the faint sarcastic drawl she'd put on the redhead's name. "And he's been spending more time with Phoebe this summer. Maybe you're just jealous and can't see it."_

" _Ha! That's rich!"_

 _He wanted to lash out, to hurt her, at least just a little bit just to get her to back off for a bit. "Is it? Gerald's happy, Phoebe's happy, hell, I'm happy. You're just so pathetically miserable with your own life that you just can't stand seeing anyone else happy." He could hear his voice raising but didn't even bother to stop. "Just grow the hell up already Helga, because honestly, you need to re-evaluate your own life before you go ruining everyone else's."_

 _She startled as if he had smacked her, her face frozen in twisted combination of pain and shock. Her body started and then almost crumpled in on itself and he immediately began to regret everything he had just told her. He sighed heavily, rubbing a hand over his face._

" _Helga…" he started again, his voice lower._

" _Shut up Arnold." She almost whispered. He looked up startled. Her eyes were wide and wet. Her hands were clenched so tight he could see small rivulets of red dripping from her fists. Her voice wavered and for once she didn't try to stop it. "You win."_

 _Won? Won what? He tried again._

" _Helga,"_

" _I hope you enjoy your last year of high school."_

 _She spun on her heels, quickly walking towards the school, holding herself as if anything touched her she would break. He rubbed his hand across his face again._

" _Dammit. Helga, wait!"_

" _Arnold?"_

 _Lila was walking up to him, her expression curious. "Whatever is the matter?"_

 _Another sigh from him. "Nothing, just-I got into a fight with Helga."_

 _She looked up at him sympathetic, sliding her hand into his. "Let her go. She just needs to calm down. I'm ever so sure she'll realize she was wrong about whatever and come back to apologize."_

 _He gave her a dry smile. "When have you even known Helga to apologize for anything?"_

" _Then perhaps she isn't the friend you thought?"_

* * *

Daphne was dreaming.

It had to be a dream, all of it. Because there was no way in the world that she was currently sitting in the back of a restaurant with the entire cast of Ever After.

There was no way she was sitting between Ariel Collins and Lana Van Zoot with Rebecca Pilson and _**freaking**_ Anderson West across the table from her.

Never even in her wildest dreams did she ever think that with a quick glance down the table she would see Ronnie sitting in between Anne Cummings and Allen Adams as they joked and talked with her about…something; Daphne couldn't tell and the look of either sheer excitement or sheer terror on Ronnie's face wasn't giving her any clues. On second look, it might have been a mixture of the two emotions on the poor girl's face.

"So," Ariel said after the drinks and food orders were given. "We have a theory."

Lana just shook her head. "Wrong. You have a theory."

"Actually it's Becky's theory."

Across the table Rebecca looked away from listening to Anderson and Darren conversation and grinned at the three teens. "Guilty as charged."

Ariel leaned in closer to Daphne, her voice lowering just a fraction so it didn't carry across the entire table. Daphne was curious.

"We think, or rather Becky thinks and after she gave me the evidence I have to agree with her, because it's pretty compelling. I mean, it's right there if you look at it…"

"Would you just tell her already." Lana hissed.

"We don't think some of the events of Ever After are entirely fictional."

Daphne blinked at her in confusion. She waited for Ariel to finish her theory.

"We think…certain events might have happened in real life."

Another frown. "Well I'm sure most of this stuff happens every day in high schools. God knows there's enough under-age drinking and relationship fights in my school."

"Where are you from anyway?" Rebecca asked.

"Hillwood, New Jersey. Ronnie and I go to Hillwood High."

Rebecca and Ariel shared a look over the table. Lana shook her head again.

"I can't believe there might be something to this crazy theory." She muttered. Daphne glance between the three girls.

"What?"

"Shut. Up." Ariel said, giggling.

"I told you, I told you." Rebecca whispered excitedly.

"I don't get it." Daphne said.

"You have any pictures of your family when they were younger?" Ariel asked.  
"That's not happening." Lana stated. "Who has pictures of their parents when they were younger?"

"Actually," Daphne pulled out her phone and connected with Lookpage. "We had a project at school where we needed older school pictures of our family. My friend Lyss and I found some good ones we really liked and ended up posting on our page." She flipped through the pictures and handed the phone to Ariel. "These are my parents when they were in high school. I think it's Prom."

Ariel took the phone and gasped, her eyes widening. "Shut. Up!"

Rebecca leaned halfway over the table her hands making grabby motions. "Let me see!"

Ariel handed the phone over and Rebecca snatched it away, looking at the picture. "I was right! Becky for the fucking win!"

"What are you doing?" Anderson interrupted his conversation to look over Rebecca's shoulder at the photo on the phone. "Wow. Those are throwback outfits." He glanced up to Daphne. "Why the hat?"

She shrugged. "His parents disappeared when he was a baby. That hat was the only thing they left him. From what uncle Gerald told me, my dad wore it all the time." She nodded towards the phone. "That picture was taken right before they left for Prom. My mom made him leave it at home. It was one of the few times it was ever off his head."

"Where is it now?" He'd turned around to face her across the table and Rebecca had jumped up and ran around the table so both she and Ariel could look at the pictures.

"On a shelf in his room. He found his parents when he was in fifth grade, stayed three years with them in South America before returning back home to live with his grandparents for his entire high school career. My grandparents came back to stay permanently right before my parents were married. A couple of years ago they decided they weren't stationary people so they travel, a lot. Like they're home maybe two months out of an entire year." Taking about her family, something she knew, something she was comfortable with, had to be the only reason she wasn't hyperventilating over the fact that Anderson West was looking right at her and talking to her. If he'd just walked up and said hi, she knew she'd be like all the other girls who suddenly forgot how to speak and could only communicate by short high pitched squeaks and squeals. But her father and grandparent's life was something she loved telling people. So she fell back into story telling mode where she could relate her tale to anyone up to and including the President of the United States in a calm manner.

Not that she wasn't hyperventilating on the inside. He was her tv crush, after all.

He tilted his head slightly and leaned forward to lean his chin on his hand. "Why were your grandparents in South America?"

"My grandparents are doctors. They met in South America while doing two separate expeditions. Fell in love, got married, found an almost extinct tribe of natives they called the Green-eyed people. My dad technically holds dual citizenship in both the United States and San Lorenzo which is in South America. He was born there, during a volcano eruption and an eclipse." She grinned. "They kind of worshiped him as the second coming of their deity. Or so my grandpa told me."

He laughed. "Your dad is a god?"

She grinned back, shrugging. "Not very god-like when you have to clean up after his dirty dishes when he gets too caught up in work to remember to put them up."

"Who's this?" Ariel asked as Anderson laughed. Daphne glanced at her phone to a picture of Lyss and her mom.

"That's Lyss." She took back her phone and clicked a couple of links to pull up Lyss' page and find her photos. "Lyss has some pictures of her Uncle Gerald. He's my dad's best friend. They've been friends since pre-school." She clicked on a thumbnail picture and handed the phone back to Ariel. "There's he and my dad."

Becky looked from the picture to Anderson and Darren sitting across the table. And grinned. "This is too amazing."

Ariel flipped through the pictures stopping on one. "Found it!" she announced.

She looked over at the phone. Gerald was sitting on a bench next to a blond girl making a face at the camera. The blond had her head down but it was tilted slightly towards Gerald, watching him.

"I don't know who that is. Uncle Gerald and Dad don't talk much about high school." She reached over and flipped to another picture. This one was of four people: Arnold, Gerald, a blond girl and a smaller Asian girl who was hiding a smile behind her hand. The photo was candid; Gerald's arm around the smiling girl's waist, Arnold watching the entire thing with an amused look and the tall blond in the middle of an eye roll. There was a hint of a smirk on her lips.

Rebecca, Ariel and Lana all stared at the picture in silence.

"You win." Lana said. "You were right all along."

Daphne studied the blond girl in the picture. "That kind of looks like Hel."

"Son of a bitch." Ariel whispered, still staring at the photo.

"We can't tell anyone." Lana insisted. "This has to stay between us."

"Okay," Daphne said, taking her phone back. "What is going on? Why are you guys so weirded out over old high school photos of my parents? And what's this theory you keep talking about?"

Rebecca looked up at Daphne. "We think Ever After is based loosely on Hel and Tad's high school years."

Daphne blinked. "What?"

The food came interrupting their conversation. Rebecca went back to her side of the table and the conversation dropped as everyone got their plates and worked on their food. A glance down the table showed her that Ronnie was relaxed, laughing aloud at something Allen had said. She looked comfortable, like she'd always been a part of that small group her entire life. Could one of them resemble someone she knew? Would Ronnie freak out if she told her about this? She stared harder at Anne and Allen, trying to figure out who they were in her dad's life…if all of this was true.

"So tell me this theory." She finally asked once the servers had left and everyone was beginning to eat. Rebecca looked up as she ate her salad.

"It started in season three when I realized that my character's mannerisms resembled Hel's a bit. Not everything, of course, but little things. How Helen breaks out in soliloquies, little catch phrases she says. Quirks she has; for example- Helen's liberal use of her fists."

"Bessie and the enforcers?"

"Towards the beginning of the season last year, we had an issue with one of the celebrity magazines insisting on getting an exclusive with Anderson." Beside her, Anderson rolled his eyes but said nothing. "We have a rule here; nobody is more important than anyone else. You interview one, you interview us all. There is always more than one person around when we do events, that way nobody gets a single interview. We like it, it keeps us all grounded and we get to share in the spotlight, good and bad. Anyway, Tad said something in jest about Old Betsy and the five avengers against the person trying to get the interview. I started paying attention and noticed that the scenes between Helen and Theo on screen are almost the way Hel and Tad act around each other. We know they've known each other for years, the fact that your parent's knew him confirmed that they went to school together."

"In fact, it was pretty much confirmed when we saw your parents." Ariel added.

"Your mom's use of the nickname Curly coincides with Moe, Theo's nickname in the first season that he finally was able to drop. The fact that your mom is a redhead." Rebecca added. "And can we just be serious here? Lisa, Helen and Arthur? That's a little too close to Lila, Helga and Arnold."

Daphne blinked again. This couldn't be real life, could it? That her favorite television show was how her parents met in real life?

"Well crap, now we know how part of the story ends." Lana said. "No happy ending."

Daphne gasped, her eyes wide. She looked at Rebecca horrified and then looked at Anderson. "Oh my god, I've got a crush on someone who could be playing my dad?!" 

* * *

Lunch was awkward. She knew it was going to be. After all, how does one talk to a person they pretty much shut out of their life the last year of high school but never forgot?

After fifteen minutes of sitting in silence, Arnold suggested they just finish their lunch later and she could show him the set. It gave her something to focus on rather than the blond sitting across from her and her never ending battle to keep her eyes from his form and examine just how nice he looked even after all these years.

She opened the door that led to the set and ushered him in. He stepped through the door and stopped in the middle of the hallway of Holly Hills High School. He looked around in awe as she shut the door behind her.

"It's creepy how much this looks like a high school." He murmured. She glanced around, used to seeing it for the last three years.

"Yep, last year of school. After this season this is all getting torn down."

"Do the stairs work?" he asked, pointing to the main staircase in the middle of the set.

"They only go up half way, but yeah, it's safe to climb them."

He climbed the stairs, stopping at the small mid landing and leaning over the railing to look at the floor below them. Helga climbed the stairs slowly, leaning against the railing on the last step.

"This reminds me of Hillwood."

"There's a lot of Hillwood in here." She hedged. "We looked at a bunch of other high school layouts online and combined the parts we liked but I'll admit, Tad and I did fashion some of this from our high school. Like this," She patted the wooden railing. "Tad and I spent a lot of time standing right where you are on the actual staircase in Hillwood watching the students walk by; talking about nothing, making plans for when we got the hell out of there. We incorporate some of that with Helen and Theo too."

"What else is here?"

"The stationary sets here are the two floors of this school, the cafeteria, and Bean Bags. The other sets are interchangeable on the adjoining soundstage and behind us is the park where we shoot most of the outside scenes including outside scenes for Brooke's infamous parties."

He laughed. "So the gazebo is out there?"

"Oh yeah, the gazebo is out there."

Still chuckling, he left his perch and started walking back down the stairs. He nudged Helga's shoulder with his own as he passed her. "Show me the rest."

They walked in silence down the stairs and into the main hallway of the school. Banners were beginning to show up on walls and over doorways. He took them all in silently as they walked.

"You're setting up for a homecoming episode."

Swallowing hard, knowing what was coming in a few weeks, she nodded. "It has its own episode or two."

She saw the shadow pass across his eyes and then it was gone.

"So." He started, stopped and then started again. "What happened our Senior year?"

She shrugged, looking down at her feet as they walked. "Life. It blew up around us and ripped everything apart like a hurricane."

"Still poetic."

"That wasn't very poetic." She retorted. "Things happened Arnold. We grew up, made choices, lived our lives the best we could. Some days I would love a do-over, you don't know how much I wish I could go back in time and change some things, but I can't. So we just have to keep moving forward."

"I think we all made some stupid choices that year." He said quietly. She chanced a look at him. He was still looking at the surroundings, but the look on his face had changed.

"My stupid choices led me to a popular television show and your stupid choices gave you a daughter." She said. "So, not all the path is negative."

He smiled at her, his eyes grazing over her face. "I'd never change Daphne. I wish things were different between her mother and I, but I never regret Daphne."

She smiled sadly. "If anyone needed a happy ending, Arnold, it was you. I'm sorry you and Lila didn't work out."

He stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned to face her. "The one thing I ever wanted was my parents. I got them in fifth grade. I never wanted anything as badly as that." He gave her a mysterious smile, his eyes narrowing. "Well, maybe almost as badly but my parents were always my one big wish. So I did get a happy ending in a way." She almost stopped breathing when she felt his hands take hers. "They're alive and part of my life, I'm happy. Lila and I didn't work out. Subconsciously I knew we weren't meant to be together but that was my own stubborn pride refusing to let go of a fairy tale. Lila and I were pretty much over right after we were married, Daphne just confirmed it. And then it took another twelve years of stupidity before I finally had to realize that I hadn't failed my marriage, I failed at realizing I shouldn't have married her in the first place."

Helga's heart was pounding hard in her chest; she wasn't sure how he couldn't hear it. She hadn't moved, wide eyed and barely breathing as he spoke.

He shrugged, looking down at their joined hands. "I lost my best friend my final year of high school. Not Gerald, although I thank God every day that I woke up before I did completely lose him. I shoved so much of myself into Lila our Senior year, trying to forget," he swallowed hard. "That I forgot the two people who needed me the most." His eyes flicked back up to hers and this time her breath did stop. "Will you ever forgive me for the one time I actually listened to you and ruined one of the best things in my life?"

"You didn't…"

"You and I got into a fight within the first month or two of our Senior year. You told me just to leave you alone. You disappeared after that, and I was so mad I didn't even try to find you. I threw myself into Lila, watched you, when I saw you, hanging around Tad and convinced myself that you were fine, that you didn't want me around anymore. I have never been more wrong about anything in my life."

She swallowed hard and forced a laugh. "Heh, well I can be pretty convincing when I want to be."

"I missed my friend." He said, almost shyly and she swallowed hard, mentally screaming at herself to _snap out of it! There was no place to swoon unnoticed, recite unnamed poems that was currently racing through your head, no way to show any weakness that he wouldn't see right now so you just snap out of it right now Helga Pataki!_

She blinked pulling her hands from his. She could think if she wasn't touching him, she could control herself if she couldn't feel skin, his skin, under her fingertips, she could laugh and joke if she was far enough away that she couldn't smell his aftershave and cologne, she could make it through this visit is she stayed far enough away that she wasn't fighting a continuous battle to touch him.

"I-I missed you too." She had. There were days when it was almost a physical hurt how much she missed him. Even years and miles after, a smell, a sound could make her heart hurt so bad all she wanted to do was roll into a ball and cry. The first time she saw Anderson in his costume she had hid in a bathroom and hyperventilated.

The happy smile on his face made her want to hurt herself for ever hurting him. He took her hand again and pulled her along the hallway.

"Come on, I want to see Bean Bags. Are there actual chairs in there?"

Smiling despite herself, she let him pull her along. 

* * *

"Breathe,"

"Good going Rebecca, you broke her. I am so not explaining this to any of the adults."

"I'm not broken," Daphne mumbled rubbing her face with her hands. "Freaked out to hell and back but not broken."

"To be fair, we don't know if everything is accurate." Rebecca insisted. "I mean, there's no way all four season could be spot on for everything. Just the major things, the rest is just make believe."

"But it's my parents," Daphne whined quietly. "I basically called my mom a bitch. And have been spending three seasons rooting for…ugh!"

"Again, to be fair," Ariel pointed out. "You and your mom don't seem to get along anyway and doesn't everyone want their dad to be happy?"

Daphne leaned back in her chair, dragging her hands down her face. "Oh my God, how did this become my life?"

Beside her, Lana was snickering. "Sorry," she said. "But this is damn funny."

"Daphne, I'm so sorry." Rebecca insisted.

She took another deep breath and let it out in a huff. "It's fine, it's fine. Obviously I can't crush on Anderson anymore because…ew, but I can still watch this show. And root for…certain couples even if I'm rooting for my own demise."

Across the table Anderson glanced over at the three, frowning when he heard his name. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Rebecca said, waving towards Darren. "We're just breaking the contest winners."

"Well, fix her when you're finished." Was his response before he went back to his conversation with Darren and Joan who was giving all four of them strange looks.

"It's a show," Lana said. "Not real life. And you know how it ends."

"At least for Arthur, Helen and Lisa." Ariel muttered.

"Just do me a favor, whatever you do, don't tell Ronnie about any of this. She'd get completely freaked out."

The three girls looked at each other. "Deal." Ariel said.

"Good." She straightened in her chair and took another deep breath. "Good, okay. Can we talk about something else now please?"

* * *

"I love this place," Arnold said leaning back on one of the couches happily. "We need a place like this in Hillwood."

They'd taken a quick detour to the commissary for coffee before heading to the Bean Bags set because Helga insisted if they were going to sit in a coffee house, then they needed actual coffee.

She sat in the chair across from his, sipping her own cup and smiling at his excitement.

"You have Slaussen's." she said.

"But that's ice cream." He insisted. "We don't have a coffee shop at all, not even a chain one."

She chuckled. "Whatever do you do?"

"Sit at home and drink coffee." He grumbled before taking a sip. "Or when I'm at work, there's a kiosk there where I can get a decent cup of coffee and then sit in the library and read."

She smiled. "My favorite thing to do. Actually it's sit up on my roof and read.

He glanced up with a half-smile. "You have a usable rooftop?"

She shrugged. "Yours was so amazing, I wanted one for myself. It's one of the reasons we bought the condo we did."

"What's it look like?"

Putting down her cup, she grabbed a napkin from the table and made a quick sketch. "It's a refurbished warehouse, all the settings are either original or recycled. It's three stories, two bedrooms, lots of open space and a rooftop area where you can relax or have parties."

He looked at the rough sketch, dragging the napkin towards him so he could see it better. His eyes flicked upward to her.

"No skylight?"

She couldn't help it, she grinned. "The entire place is one big skylight. Windows and open area everywhere. But no, no skylight, just a door."

"It looks nice."

"I love it. It's my sanctuary."

He pushed the napkin back to the middle of the table and leaned back again. "My parents took over the boarding house when they came home. Literally ripped it out and started from scratch. So it's less of a boarding house now and more of an apartment setting. There are four apartments now all filled up. Where the living room and kitchen used to be is a common area where the residents can gather or spend time together. It's still a big family type setting, everyone knows everyone. While my parents are off traveling, I take care of the rent and basic apartment problems. As far as I know, they still have parties on the roof too."

"And your room?"

He smiled. "It's still there. The furniture is out of it, and my parent's kind of use it at storage/their personal workspace as their apartment is right below it. But it's basically all still there."

She leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. "I have no bad memories of the boarding house. A couple of embarrassing ones, but nothing bad. Sometimes I get nostalgic for the old neighborhood and the way it used to be when we were kids."

"We did some crazy things when we were younger." He agreed. "Nothing that I would even be comfortable about letting Daphne do now days."

"Spending the entire day at Dinoland." She said.

"The cheese Festival." He countered.

"Riding the subway at midnight."

"Spending the night in a cemetery to see a ghost."

"Dressing up as aliens on Halloween and riling up the entire town into an angry mob."

He laughed. "Risking our lives to save the neighborhood."

She joined in the laughter. "You remember Gerald driving that bus? And the jump?"

"Us having to work the brake and clutch because we were only nine and he couldn't reach the pedals?"

"Taking on the COO of a major conglomeration and beating him."

"Breaking into a corporation to get one piece of paper."

The laughter trailed off as their eyes met, both remembering what happened after he'd gotten the video of the document. She straightened, her arm falling away from the table. He cleared his throat and took another drink of his coffee.

"Pretty crazy back then." He muttered. She blinked, remembering the last time those words were spoken. She picked up her own coffee.

"We did a whole bunch of stuff in the heat of the moment back then." She answered just as quietly. She took a drink and looked up surprised to see him watching her intently.

"Helga…"

"Helga!" The new voice broke the spell and they both turned towards the sound. Helga was grateful if not a little disappointed that Tad had showed up when he did. They had stepped into dangerous territory one to many times during this lunch and she needed to get back on solid ground to get her bearings. They were only here for two more days and even if they weren't, he was still married. He and Lila might be separated, but he was still married and she couldn't do anything to jeopardize that.

"We're in Bean Bags!" she called out. Footsteps echoed in the large sound stage and a moment later, Tad appeared in the back of the building, a crooked grin on his face.

"Did I…interrupt something?" he asked. She gave him a deadly glare which he ignored. Arnold lifted his coffee cup.

"Just coffee and reminiscing. This entire place is amazing."

"We try." Tad said, leaning against a wall. "I passed the restaurant on the way back from lunch. Belinda was awake, by the way, but not for long. She was planning on leaving early today so that fun is over. Anyway, the kids were finishing up their lunch and should be on their way back here within the next twenty minutes or so."

She stood up, scraping the chair back. "We should probably clean up and get ready for them then," she said tossing her now empty coffee cup into the nearest trash can. Arnold followed suit and Tad followed them both out.

"Everything okay?" he asked Arnold quietly as they returned back to the main area. Arnold nodded, smiled at Tad.

"Everything is good." He said.

He lied.

Everything wasn't good. 

* * *

He stood on the sidelines watching Helga interact with the actors including the two teen girls and he could remember those rare moments when he was fortunate enough to see her with her guard down. Playing the piano in the school auditorium, in the school play in their Junior year, when she forgot, just for a moment, where she was and just laughed.

It'd been too long since he'd seen the real Helga Pataki.

Daphne and Ronnie looked terrified when handed their scripts but he watched as she looked them both dead in the eye and said something. He was too far away to hear what she had told them but whatever it was, it was enough to calm both teenagers. She managed to get a smile from Ronnie and Daphne's grin designated for times when she knew she was about to do something either really stupid or really exciting.

Then it was over.

Everyone packed up to leave with Tad stern reminder to be on set by nine in the morning the next day with their lines at least partially memorized.

Daphne ran to him, throwing her arms around his waist, catching him off guard. Giving her a half grin, he patted her back, trying to see her face.

"You okay Kimba?" he asked. She nodded, pulling away and looking up at him.

"All I want is for you to be happy, Dad." She answered as they walked back towards the entrance of the sound stage. He gave a half wave to Tad and waved towards Ronnie, who was intently discussing something with Anne.

"I am happy Daphne. Where did this come from?"

"I'm serious Dad." She insisted, stepping in front of him, forcing him to stop. "You and Mom…not that I don't love me, but I don't remember a time where you two ever were happy. You deserve to be happy."

He frowned at her in confusion. "What the heck did you guys talk about at lunch?"

"Stuff," she answered evasively as Ronnie joined them. "I've been thinking about this for a long time, is all."

Still frowning, he glanced back to where Helga was standing to the side of the table, gathering her things. She glanced up for a moment, catching his eye and gave a two fingered wave. His mouth twitched upward in a crooked grin and he gave a little wave back before turning back to his daughter.

"Come on," he said, wrapping his arms around both girls. "You two have some lines to run." 

* * *

He laid on his bed, watching where he'd left off on Season three of Ever After. He was only halfway through this season and he could already tell the focus was more on the Marcus/Sofia and the Gordon/Stephanie relationships with an added hint of the Sofia/Helen/Theo friendship. The episode he was watching now was a friendship crossroads between the group of guys where were friends; Gordon, Wallace and Stan. It dealt with the friendship these three had competing with the strengthening relationship between Stephanie and Gordon. He expected everything to be resolved by the end of the episode, with the guys renewing their friendship, he hadn't expected the almost violent way Stan had demanded an ultimatum and his reaction when Gordon answered. Watching in disbelief as Stan walked down the hall, Wallace looking between the two guys before telling Gordon he would call him later before running to catch up with Stan, Arnold was shaken. There was something about the way Stan blew up the entire friendship that unnerved him.

The door to his room opened as the credits rolled and Daphne and Ronnie hurried in.

"You're watching without us?" Daphne asked.

"You've already seen this season and you're both supposed to be studying your lines for tomorrow."

"We need help." Ronnie's quiet voice explained. "There aren't very many lines so that part's easy. We need help with the delivery."

He paused the DVD and slid from the bed. "I'm sure Helga and Tad with help you with that during rehearsal tomorrow."

Ronnie blushed. "I'd prefer to be perfect." She said, her voice so quiet he could barely hear her. It dawned on him why she was so determined to play this perfectly. Theo was her favorite and the chance to play alongside her crush was making her strive to be flawless. He smiled and held out his hand for the script.

"Come on, we'll go into the main area and practice both of your scenes." 

* * *

**AN: That's it for this week. Tune in next week (it'll be 4th of July weekend but I'll still post) for the next two chapters. As always, please direct any hate mail to either my PM or Twitter at MouseNine9. All other comments can be left at both of those and my review section. Hope you enjoyed it.**


	17. Chapter Sixteen

_Lisa: "Helen, can we talk?"_

 _Helen stands on the other side of the short, quiet hall, her books protectively covering her chest from the words she's about to hear._

 _Helen: "About?"_

 _Lisa: "Arthur."_

 _Helen: [sighs in frustration] "I'm not sure what there is to talk about Lisa, he's your boyfriend."_

 _Lisa: That's the point." She smiles sweetly, almost overly sweet. "You're hurting Arthur."_

 _Helen [winces, almost visibly] "How am I hurting Arthur? I never see him."_

 _Lisa: "But you're there. Arthur is confused, and it's upsetting him. I don't like to see him upset and I know you don't either."_

 _Helen: "So what am I supposed to do?"_

 _Her words are brash but there is just a slight tremor to them. Lisa's smile grows wider._

 _Lisa: "You need to let him go. You need to let him be happy. And right now that's with me."_

 _Lisa raises a hand as Helen opens her mouth._

 _Lisa: "I understand you don't like that but he chose me but there's nothing either of us can do about that. However, these last couple of years he hasn't really been fully committed to our relationship because he's caught."_

 _Helen: [nose wrinkles in distaste.] "How is this my fault?"_

 _Lisa: "It isn't, not directly. I'm asking that you step back and let him decide what he wants. Let him go, let him dedicate himself to our relationship. If he decides that we're not what he wants, then I'll let him go. But he needs to decide that, without our help."_

 _Helen looks at the wall beside Lisa, thinking hard. Camera pans in to triumphant look on Lisa's face that Helen misses._

 _Lisa: "All we both want is for Arthur to be happy, don't we?"_

 _Helen's eyes flick back to Lisa and defeat shines in her eyes. Her head falls forward._

 _Helen: "Yes. Okay."_

 _S4E1 "If I Can't Have You"_

* * *

 _She had dressed to impress and she didn't even realize_ , Tad thought as he stepped on to the set. Helga was already on the stage, walking out the spots with lighting and the director. He spotted several of the actors walking to the makeup and costuming area, all carrying cups of coffee or some sort of caffeine boost. He walked to the stage and lifted up his own offering. Helga took it from him absently as she spoke to Ben, their director.

"Go easy on the girls." She was saying as he walked past. "Don't let them do sub-par work, but just, be easier on them than you would the others."

The director was chuckling. "I got this Hel. Trust me."

The door opened at five to nine and Arnold walked in followed by two tiredly excited teen girls. Tad grinned as he approached them.

"Ladies!" he called out. "And Arnold. How are you this morning?"

"Tired, but it's nothing that a little caffeine couldn't cure." Arnold joked. "Somebody had to stay up late making absolutely sure they had their lines down pat."

"Stop," Ronnie's whine turned into a yawn and she covered her mouth. Tad smiled fondly at her. He still hadn't told Helga who Ronnie's mother was because he didn't want her worrying about him while she was having her own personal breakdown. But today, it's was damn creepy how much the sixteen-year-old girl resembled her mother. He was almost worried about after she finished makeup and costuming. The scene called for Ronnie to play Theo's cousin, but to have Brooke think that Theo was directing his attention to someone who looked like her. Which meant if there was ever a time where Ronnie would look like a younger Rhonda Wellington-Lloyd it was going to be during the rehearsal and shooting. And if Hel was paying attention, there was no way she was going to miss that.

"Well, let me direct you to makeup and costuming. You won't have all of it on today but they need to get a basic idea of what you can wear and what's going to work with the scenes." Her jerked his head towards the large table in back as he looped his arms around the two teens and pulled them towards the back. "Arnold, there's food and drink on the back table if you need a caffeine infusion too."

Arnold grinned. "Thanks."

He watched Tad escort the girls to the back of the stage all the while talking nonstop about probably the script and their scenes. Ronnie's scene was set in Bean Bags where she was to play the cousin of Theo in town for the weekend. He convinces her to pretend to play a potential date to make Brooke jealous. Daphne's scene takes place in the gym during a volleyball game where she is talking with Stephanie and Sofia when Helen races into the gym looking upset.

Both girls stayed up late until they were satisfied with the way they played their scenes. Arnold grabbed a coffee and a donut and took a seat a little off to the side of the action where he could get a good view of everything. We watched the actors walk on and off the set, wandering around in costume grabbing coffee from the table in back as they talked. Arnold spotted the guy who played Arthur standing to the side talking with the guy who played Marcus, both in costume. Arthur's ever present baseball hat was backwards on his head as he spoke and Arnold frowned thoughtfully.

"Criminy Tad, are you kidding me?" Helga exclamation startled him. She was standing on the set of the high school glaring at Tad, her hands on her hips. Tad merely grinned at her and shrugged. She glanced up and Arnold followed her gaze to the two girls who had just walked out of costuming. Arnold's eyes widened when he spotted Ronnie. Her hair was pulled back and she was wearing a purple tunic and black tights with her own boots. Looking at her, he realized that Helga just realized who her mother was. There was no way not to know because looking like that, Ronnie was the image of Rhonda as a teenager, minus the glasses. Luckily, neither girl seemed to notice Helga's exclamation.

A red haired man hopped off the set and clapped his hands loudly. "Places everyone! We're going to run through the opening and then the two new scenes first!"

The actors got to their places as the man waved towards Daphne and Ronnie and motioned them towards the side.

Tad and Helga sat down in their chairs and the man he now assumed was the director pointed towards the crowd of "students".

"And…go!"

Watching scene rehearsal was actually interesting. There was so much more to it than what was seen on the television. Arnold watched in amazement as the director, Ben, someone told him his name was, easily directed the actors to where they needed to go. He was patient as hell, especially when Daphne and Ronnie's scenes came. Daphne missed the volleyball in the first practice and he was quick to console her when she suddenly looked devastated. He watched his daughter morph into this brief side character. She joked, and gossiped and finally, when Helen rushed into the side door during the "class" she noticed her with a worried look before nudging Sophia to point her out. The scene ended with the three of them sneaking out of the gym to hurry into the locker room where Helen disappeared to. Daphne's character offers to be a look out while to other two girls go to Helen who looks upset.

Ronnie's scene took more cajoling. Sitting at a table in the coffee shop with her "cousin" Ronnie had to swallow her shyness and openly flirt and giggle with the teen boy sitting beside her. He bit back a grin as he watched Theo put his arm around her as Brooke walked into the shop, pausing just long enough to gape in disbelief before catching up with her friends. The two at the table have their head close conspiring as Theo misses the almost jealous look Brooke gives to them both.

By the time the director calls cut, both girls are giddy with excitement. They hurry up to him as Ben yells out that next scene is the confrontation scene. He smiled widely at them both.

"I have to take a picture of you to send to your mom. Honestly, if I didn't know it was you, I'd swear I was looking at your mother in high school."

Ronnie laughed as he snapped a quick picture of her. "Stop. Oh God Mr. Shortman, did you see us?"

"You both were amazing!" he told them proudly. "I can't wait to see the filming tomorrow and the finished episode. We're having a party when it airs."

"Dad, that was so awesome!" Daphne exclaims, trying to remain quiet in her excitement.

"We have to go get dressed." Ronnie said and pulled Daphne along with her as the two girls run around the back of the set towards the costume room.

He glanced up at the set where two of the girls are setting up the next scene as he texted the picture to Rhonda.

 **Look at your baby girl. Or clone, whichever.**

Ben called for silence again and Arnold glanced back down at the screen as the next scene is practiced. His phone vibrated and he read Rhonda's response.

 **I think I had a tunic like that in high school. I never realized how much she looks like me!**

"Helen, can we talk?" The words drifted into his hearing and he glanced up curious to see the scene. His attention caught the two actors on stage and he watched, entranced, ignoring the quiet vibration of the phone in his hand.

The scene took place in a hallway seemingly away from everyone else. Lisa and Helen stood opposite each other, their backs to rows of lockers. He couldn't not watch the scene play out, couldn't not watch how easily Lisa manipulated Helen into giving up the one thing she loved, couldn't not watch how Helen surrendered at the end of the scene, walking down the hallway defeated. He suddenly felt uncomfortable, like he knew what was happening but couldn't place it.

He glanced to the side where the director and producers sat. Ben was smiling, as if the scene was acted perfectly. Tad was watching the two girls intently, nodding carefully. And Helga…

She stood a little away from the others, her eyes closed tight as if she couldn't watch the scene, preferring to listen to it instead. His stomach dropped and he mentally recoiled.

He understood why the episode he watched last night affected him so much. Their Junior year, when Harold was starting to get very serious with Patty, there had been rumors of a huge blow out between he, Stinky and Sid. Sid started hanging out with a completely different group until their Senior year when…

"And that's it. Beautiful!" Ben shouted and Arnold blinked. "Five minutes while we set up the second confrontation scene."

The two girls hopped off the stage and looked nervously towards Tad and Hel. "Well?"

Two sets of eyes locked onto Hel and Arnold found himself doing the same. The blond opened her eyes slowly and nodded silently. Both girls smiled widely before hurrying off to change for the next scene.

He watched Tad touch Helga's shoulder briefly before sitting back down and picking up his script.

The sudden realization hit Arnold like a train. He stumbled back into his seat, his body shaking. No wonder there were parts in the past three seasons he'd watched that made him uncomfortable or gave him pause. This entire season, this entire show! It was his life! Or rather the life of their four years at Hillwood High School.

The school looked familiar because he was there for four years of his life. The actors played variations of he and his friend. His entire life had been playing on network television for millions of viewers to see every week.

His hands were clammy and shaking. He was embarrassed, he was furious, he was…

How could they?!

"You okay?"

Tad stood next to his chair, his face calm as if he and Helga hadn't been slandering their classmates for four years.

"How could you?" he forced out. Tad's face didn't change.

"How could we what?"

Arnold stood up, flinging an arm towards the stage. "This is my life you're playing with, the lives of our friends! How can you two just throw everyone's dirty laundry out on television for public consumption and humiliation?"

Tad blinked, then tilted his head calculating. "This is fiction, not a reality television show. Everything here is carefully scripted and plotted to tell a story."

"Our story!" he almost shouted. As it was he noticed he was getting a couple of curious looks from some of the actors. Tad didn't react.

"It's my story too." He replied. "Not all of it, but some. Some stories are made up; some are loose interpretations of what happened. I think we're much more lenient on the characters then we should be."

"It's our lives, Tad. Our lives." He waved his hand again towards the sets. "You, Helga, me, Lila, Rhonda…all of us! You used us to, what, get ratings and make money? How could you?"

Tad still hadn't moved, hadn't reacted. He remained calm and centered, not taking his gaze from Arnold. "You said you've seen the first two season. Tell me, when was there ever anything that was a lie?"

Arnold opened his mouth and stopped. Tad was right. While there were a couple of episodes that never happened, the episodes he could remember were pretty spot on. Tad continued talking still calm.

"I am neither going to confirm nor deny that Ever After might be based on real life events. However, if they were, we have been way more positive with the characters of this show. Trust me, there were much more parties, under-age drinking, hookups and negative behavior than has ever been portrayed on this show. We try to maintain a centered storyline between all the characters. There is no good nor bad except what the viewers perceive. We don't sugarcoat and we don't romanticize, that's why we're popular. This show is raw and unforgiving and is going to get much rawer and unforgiving this final season. Like the tag line says; sometimes, there is no happily ever after."

Arnold blinked, his face going pale. "You aren't. How could she?"

Tad smiled sadly. "How could she not?"

He suddenly understood why she had called Gerald and told him never to watch this show. One of them reliving their nightmare was more than enough. He shook his head.

"Tad, I can't sit here and watch this right now. I know the girls don't know and, God, I hope they never find out, but I just can't…"

"Tad, we're ready for the next scene!" Ben called, interrupting them. Both men glanced over towards the director. Beside them Helga watched the two carefully, looking like a deer about to be caught and shot. Tad raised a hand and nodded.

"Be there in a sec!" he called back. He turned back to Arnold.

"Then I'd advise this is the best time to get some fresh air. Because you're really not going to like the next scene."

Arnold looked to the stage where the two actors were standing. Helen and Arthur were in the auditorium and he knew which scene was about to happen. Glancing back at Tad once more, he turned and strode towards the exit pushing the door and walking out into the sunlight. 

* * *

He wasn't sure how long he was outside. He'd taken to pacing up and down the length of the sound stages outside, his mind racing a million miles a minute, all the pieces of his real life and parts of the series clicking into place like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Life is always a point of view story, with the main character being the person living it. And sometimes, other stories aren't seen or heard or other points of view aren't taken into consideration.

That said, if the scene that took place earlier actually happened, it explained a lot of things that happened in his Senior year. And right now there was only one person who could confirm that. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"Are you calling to tell me that you've fixed the mess?" Lila's voice asked archly over the other end.

"What mess?"

"Obviously the mess from yesterday," she snapped. "I want my VIP pass returned."

"That's your mess and in no way am I cleaning that up for you, like I told you yesterday."

"Then why are you calling?"

"What did you say to Helga?"

There was a beat of silence. "What?"

"You heard me."

"So you're taking her side?"

"I'm not taking anyone's side."

"She has always hated me." Lila insisted. "Since we were in middle school, she's hated me."

"Fine, what the hell did you say to her our Senior year?"

"Arnold, have you gone mad?"

"Oh I'm pretty mad, just not in the crazy way." He said, still pacing the hard blacktop. "What did you tell her our Senior year?"

Lila scoffed on the other line. He could hear a door close and her voice lower. "I am at work; can we discuss this later?"

"We're going to discuss this now." He insisted.

"I figured she couldn't keep her mouth shut. All these years and she just can't wait to make me look like the bad guy. I don't know what she told you I did but it wasn't that bad. Honestly, it's her own stupid fault for being all dramatic and starting that huge fight with you."

"Lila," he all but growled into the phone. "Did you tell Helga to stay away from me?"

"We were dating." She snapped. "She just couldn't stay in the background. She was pathetic."

"Lila!"

"I told her to let you choose. She didn't bother to fight, you chose me, I won, end of story."

He stopped pacing, his eyes narrowing. "I didn't realize I was a competition."

Another scoff. "You weren't a competition; you were the prize."

He blinked, unable to believe what he was hearing. "I beg your pardon?"

"God Arnold, you were always so dense. Everyone knew Helga was in love with you in high school. She tried to hide it but it was so obvious. Sad, really." Lila sighed. "I can't believe she's still trying to tell everyone I forced her to let you go."

He was silent for a moment, trying to process everything she told him. "When we get home, you're going to sign those papers and this will be over."

"Oh Arnold…" she started.

"If you don't," he continued interrupting her. "I will call in every marker I have in Hillwood, and being the doo-gooder of Hillwood, I have a lot, and I will make your life miserable until you do."

"You can't honestly believe anything Helga says. She'll say anything to make sure you listen to her."

"She never told me anything." He said, before hanging up the phone. 

* * *

He made a couple of other phone calls; one to Gerald, one to Patty, and one to Rhonda. All three confirmed what Lila had told him; Helga had been in love with him in high school, and probably before then if Patty's hinting had any merit.

Harold had come with the limo while he'd been pacing and talking on the phone and without a word, had opened the door and let Arnold sit in the car until the girls finished.

He sat in the air conditioned car, softly banging his head against the head rest.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit," he repeated softly, his eyes closed. This was too much, too soon, he needed to lay down and think about this before doing anything.

" _Good, I'll lie down with you."_

He groaned again, thumping his head once more. "Dammit."

"Dad? You okay?"

He opened his eyes. Daphne was poking her head into the car.

"Fine. It's…just been a weird day." He admitted. She slid into the car followed by Ronnie. The door closed as both girls settled in the seat and a moment later they began moving.

"We've got dinner with the cast tonight." Daphne told him. Her eyes narrowed and she studied him. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I had to talk to your mother this afternoon."

She gave him a half grin. "That explains the mood. Are you going to be okay tonight?"

Heaving a sigh, he straightened and forced a smile. "I'll be fine Kimba, don't worry about me. I have the rest of season three to finish and I'm sure I can occupy my time while you're out having fun with your favorite people."

The half grin turned into a full smile. "You're my favorite people." She told him. He smiled back but remained silent the rest of the trip, content to listen to the girls excitedly talk about their day.


	18. Chapter Seventeen

_Scene: Library at Holly Hills High_

 _Stephanie is on a laptop, typing a paper for Senior English. Beside her, Gordon is quietly working on Math homework._

 _Stan and Wallace stumble out of the back of the non-fiction section, knocking into a book cart, the noise loud in the quiet room._

 _Gordon glances up, his face turning thunderous. The pencil in his hand snaps. The noise causes Stephanie to look up._

 _The librarian frowns at the interruption, leaving her desk to come around towards the two teen boys._

 _Librarian: "You two get out of her before I write you both detention slips."_

 _Wallace: 'Calm your skirt lady, we're leaving."_

 _Stan lets out a high pitch giggle and leers at the librarian._

 _Stan:" Chill Momma. If you loosened up a bit, I'd bet you'd be a lot of fun."_

 _Gordon stands up, his chair pushes back, his hands slam on the wooden table._

 _Gordon: "Some of us are trying to work. Get the hell out before I drag you both to the main office myself!"_

 _Wallace nudges Stan, pointing obviously towards Gordon and Stephanie._

 _Wallace: "Look who got his balls back for the day."_

 _Stan stumbles over a chair, his bleary eyes connecting with Gordon's glare. Stan's face wrinkles in anger and he spits on the floor._

 _Stan: "Come on Wallace, let's get the hell out of here."_

 _Gordon doesn't move, his face and posture threatening as he watches the two teens stumble out of the library._

 _Stephanie places a hand on Gordon's arm._

 _Stephanie: "Gordon, please sit down."_

 _Gordon retakes his seat and takes the new pencil Stephanie is holding out to him._

 _Gordon: "Thanks. Sorry."_

 _Stephanie: "For what? Gordon, they were your best friends. Now you can't do anything for them. And they're not doing well. Don't apologize for your frustration and anger."_

 _Gordon smiles at her as she takes his hand. They both turn back to their work._

 _S4E6- "Second Stage of Grief"_

* * *

Helga had always had an iron control on her emotions…in public. There had been a total of twice when she had broken down and cried in the presence of others and they both occurred her Senior year of high school. When she and Tad came to Hollywood, she had quickly developed a reputation as an ice queen. According to most of the professionals in the business, Hel had two emotions; angry and apathetic. It wasn't until Ever After that it's said she developed the third; approving. And rumor was that was completely the fault of the kids.

Truth was, Helga was a very emotional person. She merely learned at an early age that showing those emotions did nothing but single one out for ridicule. In the presence of close friends, all of which she could count on one hand and not even use all the fingers, she allowed her defenses to drop and her over-emotional, dramatic self to emerge. Usually by soliloquy.

Right now though, she could feel her nails digging into the flesh of her hands as she fought to maintain the icy calm that had served her for so long in this business. Watching the scene between Helen and Lisa, and then seeing Tad and Arnold talking in the distance and finally watching the final scene between Helen and Arthur that signaled the beginning of the end of their friendship.

She knew, **she knew** he knew, had figured it out. From the look on his face she knew he was mad about it to. Furious, by the way he jerkily swept his arm towards the stage. When he glanced at her, she could see the anger and hurt in his eyes before he shook his head at Tad and turned to leave the sound stage. Her heart tore, the almost physical pain in her chest forcing a soft gasp from her lips.

He hated her, hated them. Was furious at what they'd done.

Not that she cared about that; she and Tad had discussed it at length before they'd started down this road. Just in case anyone from their past had caught on and decided to sue. There were documents and paperwork already drawn up stating the characters and plots of Ever Afterwere fictional and had no basis on real life events. The disclaimer was in the ending credits of every episode. They had covered all bases, they were safe.

It still didn't mean it didn't hurt like hell when he'd directed his gaze towards her in that short moment.

Tad had walked back over as the next scene had played out, his hand going to her shoulder, feeling the tight muscles.

"Breathe," he whispered in her ear as the rehearsal played on.

She kept her iron calm until after rehearsal was over, their guests had left the building and most of the actors had retreated back to costuming for alterations and additions.

Tad hustled Helga towards the back, the heavy curtain blocking them from the rest of the building and muffling anything that needed to be said.

"He hates me." She intoned, her arms shaking from remaining tense for so long.

"He was upset," Tad admitted. "But I spoke with him and he's better. I'm sure he doesn't like it, and he doesn't understand, but he isn't furious anymore."

"This was a mistake, this entire thing," she said, her breathing quickening. She tore from Tad's grip and began pacing in front of him. "This entire contest thing, it was all a mistake. We should've told Becker to shove it up his blowhole, we should've fought this the entire step of the way." Her hands found their way into her hair and she pulled at her locks, pulling it out of the ever present French braid her hair was usually in. "I should have stepped back and let Megan take care of this, let you handle it all. I was wrong, I thought I could handle this. It was only four days; it shouldn't have been this hard. I can't-"

Tad stepped forward, in her path and grabbed her shoulders as she approached. "Hel, stop." He said, giving her a little shake. "The self-flagellation isn't helping anything. Take a deep breath and just relax."

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and released it in a whoosh. His fingers were rubbing her tense shoulder and she could feel herself relaxing just a bit. Her eyes were hot when she opened them and she blinked back the wetness.

"Tad," she whispered. He smiled at her and pulled her into his arms.

"I know, sweetheart." He whispered into her hair, just holding her. "I know."

It was a rare time when she just allowed Tad to hold her. Usually they kept a hands off policy, both of them too proud and too stubborn to ask. She leaned her head against his shoulder, allowing herself to relax into him for just a moment.

"I have a dinner date with Tessa tonight but I can cancel. We can veg out and watch Nicholas Sparks movies."

"Ugh, because I'm not depressed enough already." Release a sigh, she pulled away from him. His hands fell away from her and he took a step back. "No, go to your date. I'll be fine."

He studied her silently for a moment, before nodding. "Okay."

Crisis over, she folded her arms across her chest and fixed him with a look. "Now, when were you going to tell me that our new friend Ronnie was Rhonda Wellington-Lloyd's daughter?"

He grinned sheepishly, "Um…when you asked?" 

* * *

His phone rang while he was playing fashion police to the girls. While he was content in his comfortable jeans and worn tee shirt, only taking the time to kick off his shoes, they'd been running in and out of their room since they'd returned to the hotel trying on different outfits. His job was to shrug and every once in a while wrinkle his nose.

"Why don't you two wear the outfits you got a couple of days ago?" he called out as he looked at the caller ID. Smiling he put the phone to his ear.

"Hey Rhon, what's up?"

"Am I going to have a son-in-law when you three return?"

He grinned knowing who she was referring to. "I don't think so. He seems to be too closely attached to the girl who plays Brooke in the show." _Ironically,_ he thought.

"Are you sure?"

"Quite."

"Good, because if I get one more text about how amazing and incredible Mr. Allen Adams is, I might scream."

He chuckled. "He has been pretty attentive to her. Both he and Anne. If anything, I think they're looking for a new friend."

Rhonda laughed. "Oh dear Lord, because I need two Hollywood types at my house on a regular basis."

"There was a time…" he teased.

"Hush Arnold." He heard the echo of heels on tile and knew she'd just gotten off of work and was walking around her kitchen. "So, what was up with the cryptic blast from the past text you sent me earlier?"

He fell back onto the couch and leaned his head back sighing. "I texted Gerald and Patty also."

"Okay, I have some time free. Spill."

He heaved another heavy sigh. "The producers of this show are Thaddeus and Helga."

Rhonda went silent on the other end as the door to the guest bedroom opened and both girls came out dressed in the outfits they'd gotten during their shopping trip with the three girls from the show.

"How about this?" Daphne asked. Arnold smiled at them.

"You both look great." He answered honestly. "What time is Harold supposed to come get you?"

"In an hour," Ronnie answered.

"We have to finish getting ready." Daphne added, pulling Ronnie back into the room with her. He waited until the door closed before turning his attention back to the phone.

"Rhonda? You still there?"

"I'm here." Her voice was contemplative. "Well, that explains why Brooke is so familiar to me."

Arnold frowned. "You knew?"

He could hear the smile in her voice when she spoke. "Arnold, my mother's name was Brooke."

"Sonva…"

"You didn't know?"

"How was I supposed to know the entire series was about us?" he exclaimed. "How are you not furious about this?"

"I'm not. And in all honesty, if Tad and Helga did create this show, they're a hell of a lot more lenient on my character than I would've been. I was a huge bitch in high school Arnold. With the exception of certain people, I had absolutely no time for anyone else in that school. I threw a ton of parties, drank way too much-honestly, I was incredibly lucky I survived." She paused. "Of course, I had a type of annoying guardian angel watching over me too."

"But it's our lives. Our lives are the most popular thing on TV right now."

"It's not glamourized, if anything on the bright lights of the screen, our lives sucked. I watch the show with Ronnie because it's raw and unapologetic. There is nothing glossy about the show. If there's issues, there's usually consequences. It doesn't make high school look like one huge, glamorous, high fashion party. That's why the kids like it, it reminds them of their lives."

He sighed heavily. "Rhon."

"Let me tell you a few things about our high school lives you probably didn't catch on to, Arnold." She said. "Harold and Patty managed to make it and have two amazing kids but Harold lost his two best friends, one permanently. Eugene made it big but in order to do that, he cut ties with everyone except Sheila. Nadine spent seven months in a hospital for an eating disorder right out of high school and I wasn't there to support her. Brian had to leave in the middle of our Senior year because he had a mental breakdown in his Physics class. And Gerald…well. To be honest, out of the Simmons kids; you, Patty, Eugene, Harold, Lila and I were the only ones who ended up with what people would call a happy ending. And look how it turned out for the two of us."

"Well that sucks."

"I know. And in an entire ironic twist to everything, Tad and Helga were the two most obvious people in our group. Tad saved me more than I deserved and I never appreciated it. Helga, she gave the world to make sure you were happy, up to and including letting you go when Lila asked. There were so many times I wanted to just shake her, but of course, that would've ruined my reputation of being an elitist bitch."

"I can't believe I was so clueless back then." He mumbled. Rhonda laughed.

"I just assumed you were turning a blind eye. After all, there's only so many times Lila could've banged other guys without you finding out about it."

He sat up on the couch. "What?"

"Don't tell me you didn't know."

"I didn't know. What are you talking about?"

"Arnold, how did you not know that Lila was cheating on you our entire high school career?"


	19. Chapter Eighteen

**AN: Technically it's Sunday. And I couldn't wait to upload these. Enjoy!**

* * *

 _Scene: Back table in Bean Bags, secluded from almost everyone else, Morris and Sarah sit next to each other looking at a stack of papers on the table between them._

 _Morris: This is it. Once I send in this paperwork, there's no turning back._

 _Sarah: I would think you wouldn't want to turn back._

 _Morris: No, no, I don't. Getting out of this misery-driven town is all I've thought of since I first walked through the doors of Triple H._

 _He gives Sarah a long look and takes her hands in his._

 _Morris: What_ _I_ _will regret is leaving you here. You have been everything to me Sarah, the idea of leaving you here to drown while I make my escape sometimes is too much to bear._

 _Sarah gives him a smile, turning her hands in his so they are holding hands._

 _Sarah: What makes you think I'm going to drown here? I have plans Morris, and one of them is not staying her any longer than I need to._

 _Morris: Sarah, I know you. You'll stay here and take care of your parents and any dreams you may have now will end up dying under the weight of commitment and obligation._

 _Morris tightens his grip on Sarah's hands._

 _Morris: Come with me. The day we graduate, come with me. We'll go to New York together._

 _Sarah: And do what, Morris?_

 _Sarah pulls her hands away from him._

 _Sarah: I find a hole in the wall apartment I can barely afford and work my life away in a diner while you take classes and rise to the top? Of if we do find a place together, how long until you fall in love and your boyfriend demands it's either him or me?_

 _Morris: (looks shocked at the questions) I would never Sarah. You know how much you mean to me._

 _Sarah: Don't. I love you Morris, you're my best friend and I would die before I let anything happen to you. But I can't go with you to New York. I won't throw away my life for anyone; my parent, my family, not even you. I have ambitions, I have plans after high school and they don't involve living in a dump in New York watching you move further and further away from me until the only time I see you in on a stage with hundreds of other people._

 _Sarah grabs her tablet and her oversized bag and stands up._

 _Sarah: So please don't ask me._

 _Morris: Sarah!_

 _Sarah moves quickly through the tables of the coffee shop reaching the outside. There's a chill in the wind and she gathers her sweater towards her as she pulls out her cell phone and dials a number. She waits a bit until someone on the other end answers._

 _Sarah: I'm finished. Can you come get me? I'll be on the corner of Dale and 17_ _th_ _._

 _S04 E07_

 _Ashes, Ashes_

* * *

If she wasn't careful the floor of their kitchen and living room was going to be worn down with as much as she paced that path. The house was quiet and it was driving her nuts. Her mind wouldn't turn off and she couldn't stop thinking about that afternoon. She hated that it hurt him, but this time more things were at stake other than his happiness. And why was she still concerned about making him happy after all these years? How much more would she be willing to sacrifice in order to see him happy?

Not the show, she decided. If he was mad at her, she would let him go and never return to Hillwood again. It wasn't as if there was anything left for her there anyway.

She tugged at strands of her now loose hair, turning and pacing the opposite way. She had to talk to him; to apologize for everything, to explain why they did it and let him know she never meant to upset him. If he told her to leave, then she would.

Groaning loudly, she flung herself into one of the overstuffed chairs in the living room.

"Criminy, how does one person have so much hold over me?" she asked aloud to the ceiling.

The ceiling didn't have an answer. So she supplied her own.

"Because you love him, you idiot," she muttered. "Always have, always will."

She groaned again, her head falling back against the back of the chair.

"I am so screwed."

She stood up and grabbed her keys. She needed to go over there and talk to him and pray that he wouldn't slam the door in her face. She wasn't sure if she could handle his rejection of her tonight.

* * *

The hotel room was quiet.

The girls had left an hour before, all squeals and excited giggling up till the front door closed and then…

Nothing.

He wandered around a while, contemplating ordering room service and mulling over what he and Rhonda had talked about earlier.

Lila, cheating on him during their entire relationship. Because he was now damned sure that if she'd been doing it during high school and after she left, then his entire marriage had been nothing but a lie.

After all, he was only a prize to her.

Helga, sacrificing her own happiness in order to make sure he was happy. Even if she didn't know what it entailed.

Briefly he thought about turning back on season three of Ever After, but the thought of watching it made his stomach queasy. Not that he was angry, not really anymore, but watching the character that was supposed to be him amble along thinking everything was just right when it never was.

And if Helen was based on Helga, even loosely…

How in the hell did he never realized one of his best friends was in love with him?

There were times in high school, usually when the four of them were out together that the thought occasionally crossed his mind. But he'd brushed it away, telling himself that she was his friend, there wasn't anything more between them and she would pound him if he had ever tried anything.

He'd been so blind.

A knock on the door pulled him from his musings and he looked up. He wasn't expecting anyone. Unless it was Tad again, ready to drag him out to eat.

He climbed to his feet and crossed the floor to the door.

"I'm not in the mood for dinner but I wouldn't say no to drinks," he said as he opened the door and froze, his eyes wide and his mouth still open.

Helga stood in the hallway rubbing her arm nervously. She had changed clothes from earlier, now wearing yoga pants, an oversized tee shirt and flip flops.

"Were you expecting someone else?" she asked. "I can go."

"No." he opened the door further and took a step back. "No, I thought it was Tad again. Come on in."

She stepped into the hotel room, glancing around. He shut the door and she startled.

"Tad's on a date with Tessa." She told him.

"The accountant." He supplied. She nodded.

"Well, come on in. I think I have water in the small fridge. It's not alcohol but it's something."

"If this is a bad time…" she started as he walked into the small kitchen area and pulled two bottles of water from the fridge.

"Not at all. I've just been sitting around thinking much too loudly in the silence. I'm grateful for company."

She snorted softly. "Even me?"

He gave her a smile. "Especially you." He handed her a bottle before heading back to the couch. She dropped her keys on the counter and opened the bottle. She looked as if she was steeling herself for something so he waited silently, playing with the label on the bottle.

"Look, Arnold, I need to apologize. I called Gerald when we were going ahead with this show and asked him never to watch it. I should've called you too, well I couldn't have called you but I could've sent an email or a message or even told Gerald to tell you the same thing. I didn't and I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize for anything," he said. "And Gerald doesn't have a sixteen-year-old daughter in his house that is obsessed with the show. He has a niece, but he stops listening when she starts talking at higher octaves."

She gave a soft snort of amusement. The small smile on her face faded.  
"He should." Her voice was so quiet he almost didn't hear her. He stood up so he didn't have to look up at her when they talked.

"I'm not mad. I'm not," he insisted at her doubtful look. "Granted, I was earlier this afternoon, but that faded after I talked to Tad and Rhonda."

"Yeah, I didn't see that plot twist coming." She said. He grinned.

"Neither did Rhonda."

Her face went from amused to horror. "You told her? Oh God, what did she say?"

"She was oddly calm about the whole thing. It was weird. It really didn't bother her one way or the other."

She frowned, putting the bottle on the counter next to her keys. She folded her arms across her chest. "You're telling me Rhonda wasn't upset at all."

He shook his head. "Not a bit. She only said that the show suddenly made an odd sort of sense to her now. And then she educated me on a couple of things."

She looked wary. "What kind of things?"

"That my life wasn't as bright as I thought it was." He shook his head. "I was damned clueless in high school. Honestly, someone wearing blinder would've saw more than I did."

"Well, you've always been slightly clueless Arnold, but I don't think it was that bad."

"It was bad," he casually walked towards the kitchen counter she was leaning against. "I spend my high school career and beyond completely oblivious to the fact that my then girlfriend was cheating on me non-stop."

"We just assumed you knew and didn't care."

"Why would everyone think I wouldn't care about something that important?" he asked confused. "Because that's pretty damn big."

She shrugged, looking down at her toes. "You had been in love with her for forever. You had her, maybe you were willing to overlook things in order to keep her?"

"Would you have?"

Her head shot up at his question, her eyes wide.

"Would I have what?"

"Overlooked someone you loved cheating on you continuously?"

Her lip quirked. "No. But I'm selfish."

"You're the most selfless person I know."

"Not about that." Another half-smile. "If I was with a person I loved that much, I'd be a pain in the ass. Selfish, overbearing, obsessive."

"You'd give them the world." He insisted.

"While insisting that I remained theirs." She gave a small shrug. "There's a reason I've never been in a relationship. I know my neuroses, and I know the amount of partners out there willing to put up with them are rare."

He leaned against the counter next to her. "So, it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that I was completely blind to the fact that one of my best friends was in love with me?"

He could tell when what he had said sunk in. She paled and straightened up, the trapped look in her eyes he remembered from their childhood.

"Um…I – er, I don't know what….that is…what?"

He feigned nonchalance. "Apparently everyone but me knew. It figures; I couldn't tell Lila was cheating on me the entire time, so it stands to reason that I was blind to you also." He wrinkled his nose. "I regret I hurt you. The scene reminded me just how cruel I was to you."

"You walked out before the scene started." She almost whispered, her eyes still wide.

"Doesn't mean I don't remember exactly what I said, and what I never did the rest of that year. Gerald wasn't the only person who lost something dear that year. Upset or not, ignoring you during that time is still inexcusable."

She sucked in a breath, blinking several times quickly.

"I'm not sure you could ever forgive me for that, but I hope you'll try."

For a moment she didn't speak, merely stood there with wide eyes, breathing shallowly and watching him. She licked her lips.

"There isn't anything to forgive. We were kids."

"Then can I ask a question?"

"I guess." She looked wary again.

He swallowed hard but didn't take his eyes from her. If he blinked, she'd disappear.

"What about now?"

"What about now what?"

His lips curled and he ducked his head. His bare foot gave a soft swiping kick towards her feet and he looked at her through half lids. "Could you, I don't know, still like me like me?"

She snickered once, involuntary, and her lips curved upward. She watched him silently, mentally fighting with weakening knees. Finally, she let out a deep sigh and spoke.  
"I never stopped."

His head came up. She didn't even notice his hand reaching for her until she felt his fingers on her bare arm. He tugged her arm and she stumbled towards him. Realization of what was about to happen came exactly 1.5 seconds before his lips met hers.

The last time they kissed was in fifth grade. In San Lorenzo, right before he told her he was remaining with his parents. The sweet, innocent closed-lipped kiss of two ten year olds was nothing compared to this. This was anticipation and longing, sensual and wet and hot. Helga was by no means innocent; she'd had partners during the years, but nothing compared to the assault on her senses this kiss brought. Her heart skipped a beat, her knees weakened, that familiar feeling low in her stomach roared back into existence so fast she was caught up and couldn't stop the sharp intake of breath.

Fingers dug into her loose hair, tugging her closer as the kiss deepened. Her arms wrapped around his neck on their own accord as she stepped closer to him feeling his other hand low on her back, fingers almost searing their imprint onto her skin. She was flushed, shaking, her heart pounding. His lips moved against hers, nipping gently followed by quick soothing swipes.

The kiss broke with a sharp intake of breath and Helga refused to open her eyes; if this was a dream, she didn't want it to disappear. She could feel the quick pounding of his heart against the hand now resting on his chest. The fingers that were tangled in her hair were making their way down, caressing her cheek, the other hand still clutched to her back. She took a deep breath, let it out shakily, silently counted to three and opened her eyes.

He was still there, his forehead almost touching hers, his green eyes steadily watching her. His lips quirked as she opened her eyes.

"You okay?" his voice was soft and low. She licked her lips, noticing his eyes drop to watch and nodded.

"Wasn't expecting that." Was all she could think to say. The quirk expanded to a grin.

"I did seem to catch you unaware."

She wanted to move, just so she could think-put two words together in her head- but the feel of his fingers absently rubbing her lower back and just the sense of him this close to her, she wanted to keep this feeling forever. Bottle it up and keep it on her desk for those days when she was feeling low. Because this was a once in a lifetime moment for her. A taste of her personal happily ever after; another time, another place perhaps. She breathed in his scent committing it to memory and forced a smile onto her face.

"I swear; this isn't why I came over here."

He laughed hard, his shoulders shaking even as he held onto her. He dropped his head on her shoulder still giggling and she froze, her eyelids fluttering as she felt his hair brush against her cheek. His head moved against her shoulder and she felt his lips press against her neck before he moved away. Her breath caught. There was bottling up and keeping memories for rainy days and then there was emotional overload. She was about at the latter. A smile was still on his face as he looked at her.

"Hey Helga?"

"Yes?"

His finger brushed back strands of her hair, his eyes following the path before resting once again on her gaze.

"I want to kiss you again."

She stared at him uncomprehendingly for only a moment before her body took over, leaning forward to catch his lips again before her brain could decide if it was a bad idea or not. The fingers at her back flattened and pulled her closer as the kiss took on a different tone than the first. Her mouth opened under his, tongue sliding against his lips as she flattened herself against him feeling the hard muscle of his chest against her. He groaned against her mouth crushing her to him and angling his head to delve in deeper.

She wanted more; wanted to feel his hands against her bare skin, his lips on her neck, his body against hers. She could have that; let this take over, one small move on her part could push them both over the precipice. It would be so easy to just slide her hands down his chest to nestle underneath his shirt, to feel-finally- bare flesh under her fingertips.

The hand resting on her hip slid upwards excruciatingly slow, his fingers coming to rest against her ribcage, dangerously close to the underside of her breast. One small movement and…

 _ **He's still married!**_ Her brain suddenly screamed. **And** _ **his daughter is at dinner with your cast!**_

Gasping, she ripped herself away from the kiss startling both of them. His eyes shot open, his hands falling to his sides as she stared back at him wide eyed and gasping for breath.

"I'm sorry," he rushed out, his own eyes wide. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"No!" she hurried to reassure him, still trying to catch her breath. Her hands clenched tightly against her hips so she wouldn't reach back out to touch him. "It's my fault, I didn't mean…" At his confused look, she forced herself to take a deep breath, to calm down. "You're still married."

He blinked. Tilted his head to one side. And blinked again. "You…you pulled away out of some unsaid loyalty to Lila?"

Helga made a face. "No! But…you're still married. And there's always a chance that…"

He stepped forward and took her clenched fists in his hands. His face the serene picture of reason she remembered.

"Helga. You're right, on paper I am still married. But Lila and I have been separated for almost four years now. And when we get home, she is signing those papers which means that by Halloween I won't be anymore. Please, please, do not think that I would involve you in some illicit affair to get revenge."

She shook her head, her hands relaxing. He gripped her hands tightly.

"I don't think that. I just…she told me…"

"The scene earlier." He explained. "Was an example of her using you to get to me. It doesn't matter what she told you, it's wrong." He tugged at her hands. "Come on; let's sit down, order some take-out and talk about this."

She relented, nodding and allowed herself to be led towards the couch.


	20. Chapter Nineteen

_Scene: Inside Bean Bags_

 _Usual table with Sophie, Theo and Helen gathered around table with books and notebooks spread across it._

 _Theo: "I despise Ancient History! Why must I take this? Why must the gods smirk at my fate?"_

 _Sophie: "Dramatic much?"_

 _Theo makes a strangles sound and drops his head onto the books. Still writing in her notebook, Helen pats Theo's head._

 _Helen: "You love ancient Greek history. We are studying Ancient Greek History. I don't understand the wailing."_

 _Theo: "But…teacher…boring!"_

 _Sophie: "But classes…get scholarships."_

 _Theo groans and lifts his head. He gives Sophie a fake glare._

 _Theo: "Curse your logic, Soph."_

 _Sophie: "It's a gift."_

 _Camera pulls back as door to coffee shop opens and Marcus, Arthur and Lisa enter. Sophie's face freezes before resting in a disdainful snarl._

 _Marcus waves at Sophie as they enter._

 _Arthur: "You leaving us, man?"_

 _Marcus: "Sorry, girlfriend time. Talk to you later?"_

 _Arthur: "Call you after nine."_

 _Marcus splits off, walking towards the three in the back as the door opens once more. Brooke and Naomi enter. Brooke spots the group in the back and then Arthur and Lisa ordering their coffee._

 _Brooke: (loudly) "Remind me Naomi, is it the black widow that runs off all the competition before she kills her mate?"_

 _Naomi looks at Brooke and spots Arthur and Lisa. She smirks._

 _Naomi: "I think you're thinking about the female praying mantis. She rips her mate's head off during sex."_

 _Brooke: "And they aren't nearly as attractive."_

 _Lisa looks back and gives Brooke a dirty glare._

 _At the back table, Sophie's look melts into a smile as Marcus appears, pulling out a chair and sitting next to her. Helen's head remains buried in her history book, her writing never faltering._

 _Beside her, Theo grins widely._

 _Theo: "God, I love that woman."_

 _S4E4- "Aftershocks"_

* * *

This was her dream. If someone had ever told her months before that she would be sitting in an expensive restaurant in LA eating dinner with the cast of Ever After, Daphne would've laughed at them and told them not even in her wildest dream. Alyssa and Isabella would be so jealous if they could see her now. They were already jealous because she won this trip and this opportunity.

Sitting here right now, however, she didn't feel so lucky. In two days her world had collapsed around her; her favorite show for the last three years discovered to be a pretty good interpretation of her parent's youth, the actor she had a major crush on was playing her father and her favorite ship pretty much meant that, had it happened, she wouldn't be here to enjoy this.

Worst part about it, she couldn't tell anyone what was happening. First, who would believe her, and second… who would believe her?

She just wanted to go home, back to Hillwood, and pretend none of this ever happened. She wanted to buy clothes for her Junior year of high school, start researching colleges with her Dad and spend the rest of the summer at the pool checking out the hot lifeguards. Maybe, if she were lucky, get a glimpse of Ethan Rochester.

"You're thinking too loud."

She blinked and focused on the person who was now sitting in the chair next to her. Blaine Zaferikis, the actor who played Gordon, was peering intently at her as she twisted her cloth napkin. She glanced around at everyone else talking animatedly around her before looking back at him.

"Excuse me?"

"You're thinking too loud." He repeated. "I can almost see the words rushing past your brain. Your friend looks like she's having the best time of her life ever while you're sitting over here, quiet and looking like you'd rather be anywhere else, which I understand." He gave her a grin. "Too many days with these yahoos and I want to be anywhere else too."

She grinned back. "It's not that. It's just…this trip didn't exactly go as I dreamed."

"Tell me."

She eyed him curiously. The well build sandy blond leaned back in the chair and watched at her expectantly.

"Well, my favorite show is pretty much based on my parent's life, I have-had a crush on the guy who is basically playing my dad and the couple I was rooting for the entire time this show has been on, had they ever gotten together in real life would've meant I wouldn't be here to be talking to you. You can understand how I can be confused and bummed about this."

He was silent for a moment, mulling over her words and looking at his cast mates around the table. Finally, he scooted his chair closer to her and leaned in close enough to talk quietly but not close enough to invade her personal space.

"Have you talked to your Dad about this?"

"How do I talk to my Dad after watching him…or rather a television reproduction of him make out with a television reproduction of my Mom on the show? There's a line about walking in on your parents? I've been watching them for three years."

He hid the small smile. "Little known fact; my dad is Rod Willington"

Her eyes widened. "The rom-com king?"

"The same. Do you know how many times I've accidentally seen my dad in a "compromising position" with someone other than my mom? I try not to watch those movies but when it's a little known secret, it tends to happen. What you learn quickly is on screen, that isn't my Dad. It's whomever he's playing at the time. How he acts with my Mom is completely different from his on screen personas. He's sloppy, he likes to walk around in his boxers and socks, he makes the best blueberry pancakes ever…usually for dinner. He says stupid things that makes my Mom roll her eyes and call him a moron. The point is, what we see on television versus what we know in real life is completely different." He nodded towards the other side of the table. "For example, Anderson and Rebecca started dating in real life during the filming of last season. Allen is bisexual and has hooked up with Darrick once that I know of. Tamara has a long term girlfriend and I think it's getting serious. None of these people sitting at this table are anything like their characters on the television. And I'm sure if you thought about it, your Dad is different than Arthur."

Daphne thought. "He'll forget the time when he gets caught up in work. He leaves his mugs on the coffee table in the living room. He likes to sock slide down the upstairs hallway."

Blaine smirked. "Who doesn't like to sock slide? It's the closest to surfing without the board and water. The point is, Hel's version of Arthur lists only his good points, never his annoying habits. There is no teenage boy ever in the history of high school who was as perfect as Arthur seems. Even with the big fight happening in the episode we're filming tomorrow, the only thing Arthur is guilty of is being completely blind to the fact that Lisa is playing him. I'm sure if you asked Tad what your Dad was like when he was younger, you'd get a completely different answer than what is shown on screen."

Daphne snickered and Blaine grinned again. "Try not to freak out about what has happened for the last three years, or even what might happen this year. Hel and Tad are just doing their version of "ripped from the headlines", doesn't mean it actually happened that way. And even if it's close, it doesn't mean it'll stay that way."

"As witnessed by my parent's divorce, you mean." Daphne added. Blaine merely shrugged. "Thanks. It was just almost surreal; you know?"

"Welcome to Hollywood."

* * *

"What are we doing?"

"Quick spying job Tess, then sushi." Tad slipped into the side door of the restaurant and snuck a peek at the group of young adults located in the private area. He just wanted to make sure everything was still working out. After the potential fallout that happened between the adults during rehearsal and Daphne's mood when she walked in that morning, he just wanted to make sure there wasn't going to be a potential PR disaster.

The entire group seemed to be upbeat. Ronnie was laughing with Allen and Anne along with a couple of the other kids. The dark haired girl had come out of her shell in the short time she'd been here leading him to think that maybe his two troublemakers had a little to do with that. Daphne was sitting next to Blaine, less animated than her friend but still looking like she was enjoying her company. Satisfied, he palmed a tip to the matre de who let him peek on the party and slipped back out the way he came, sliding an arm over the shoulder of the brunette. The two walked down to the end of the block where he had reservations at the top sushi restaurant in town. The brunette accountant smiled her thanks as they quickly got their table and the greeter pulled her chair out. Tad picked up his menu, doing a quick glance around before looking at the menu. At outdoor restaurants like this, people came as much for the food as to be seen. And from his vantage point, he could see without being seen, the way he liked it and why he paid a bit extra in order to secure those spots.

As he looked back down to peruse the menu, a flash of red caught his attention. His eyes flicked back up to see Lila in the embrace of a dark haired man…someone who was definitely not her husband. Doing things he wasn't quite sure were legal even in California. Working it out, his ass. As usual everything Lila told Helga was one huge pile of bullshit and as usual Helga would do nothing because the happiness of "her beloved" was paramount to everything else. He loved his best friend/ roommate/ partner in crime but she was a complete idiot when it came to anything involving one Arnold Shortman.

A mischievous smirk slid across his lips and he pulled his phone out, angling it just enough that he could get the picture without getting caught. The phone clicked quietly and his date glanced up at the noise.

"What was that?"

"Someone taking pictures on their phone." He answered as he palmed his own phone. As Tessa glanced around, trying to see who was here that might be photo worthy, Tad glanced at the picture he'd just taken.

Perfect.

He moved the photo into a text message format and added his own message before sending it.

 **Apparently "working it out" means something completely different in Hillwood now.**

* * *

They meant to talk. There were plans to order food and talk. The plan lasted exactly ten minutes.

The phones were on the small table next to the couch as were two half full bottles of water. Arnold and Helga were otherwise occupied; mouths and hands busy with other things. She was nestled on the couch, laying half on top of him between his thighs, her hands pressed against his waist. His hands slid over her hips coming to rest under her ass to lift her upwards on him, his mouth moving against hers swallowing her gasp. She broke the kiss, pulling back to catch her breath, her eyes closing at the feeling of hardness pressed against her hip.

"This…" she swallowed hard. "This isn't talking."

One hand slid back into her hair, his fingers curling around blond strands. "Nope." He said, pulling her back down. She went willingly, her own hands finally sliding underneath his tee shirt to touch flesh.

Fur Else broke the silence, startling them both. It was closely followed by the Imperial March playing on the other phone. Helga panted, resting her forehead against Arnold's chest.

"That's Tad." She mumbled against his tee shirt.

"Normally I'd tell you to leave it except that's Daphne's ringtone." He told her sounding out of breath also. One hand held on to her waist as his other reached out to grab his phone. She did the same, curious as to why Tad was texting her but not wanting to move from where she was. Thumbing the password, she clicked on the text icon. A clear picture of Lila in the arms of some guy doing…

Where the hell was his hand?

She read the accompanying message before shutting off her phone and putting it back on the table. Arnold was still reading his phone, a small smile on his lips.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

His eyes flicked up to hers. Keeping a hold of her waist, his fingers moving quickly across his phone before putting it back down on the table next to hers.

"Everything is fine," he answered, his now free hand reaching up to brush back strands of hair that had fallen over her shoulder. "She was just checking up on me. She figured I was bored and was wondering how far I'd gotten in season 3."

"What did you say?"

"To quit texting me in the middle of dinner, it was rude." He lifted his head to brush against her lips. "We really should probably talk."

She wrinkled her nose. "Would it be forward of me to tell you I really don't want to move?"

"Only if it's forward of me to tell you I don't really want you to move."

"We didn't really get very far talking when we were on opposite sides of the couch." She stated. "We could see how this works out."

She could feel his stomach muscles contract when he huffed out a soft laugh. "I'm not promising I'm not going to kiss you again."

"Fair enough. I'm not promising I'm not going to not let you."

His fingers were still tangled in her hair, resting right below her ear. "So. Is this a one-time thing?"

She moved her hands so they were resting against his chest. "What? This kissing thing?"

"This kissing thing," he agreed. "That could lead into other things."

"Other things like tomorrow, since you're only here one more day," she hedged. "Or other things like…long term?"

He was silent for a moment. "I'd like to see where this could lead. Long term."

She frowned. "How? We literally live on the opposite sides of the US now. We have one more year of this show."

"And then what?"

"And then…" she shrugged. "I don't know. Tad and I really haven't thought further out. Possibly a short break."

"Helga, this thing between us, unknown or not, has been simmering since we were kids. I think I can wait it out another year."

"Can you?"

"With the internet and phones, it's amazing what can be done these days." He deadpanned. "Did you know I can talk to my parents when they're in Bolivia and it's almost like they're in the room?"

"Jackass." She growled, her eyes narrowing at his grin.

"How do you feel?"

She sobered at the question. She had wanted this since she was two and didn't yet understand what "this" was. The fact that she was currently laying on him having this conversation after a pretty hot make out session was more than she'd even ever dreamed. A year was nothing.

"I can wait out a year." She agreed. His face brightened.

"So we're going to try this?"

"Remember what I said earlier," she warned. "I'm selfish. I'm going to be needy, and a little jealous, and clingy. I've wanted you for way too long, so I'm warning you now, it's not going to be pretty."

"I think I can handle it." He reassured her.

"We don't tell Lila." She said. "I'd prefer keeping it quiet, but I know you're going to have to tell someone. I don't care how many non-disclosure agreements I have to ship out, I don't want Lila knowing until I have a chance to come back to Hillwood."

He chuckled. "You're going to make our friends sign non-disclosure agreements? I can safely say Gerald will tell you to shove it."

"I can handle Gerald."

"Lila doesn't need to know." He agreed. "There's no reason for her to anyway, my personal life is no longer any of her business and hasn't been for years. The only people I'd tell would be Gerald and Rhonda and maybe Patty."

"Good. Because I'll have enough to handle dealing with Tad when he finds out." She said.

"Am I allowed to be jealous of you two living together?"

She smiled slowly. "Tad and I are friends, nothing more. We even have completely separate bedrooms. But I like that you're jealous."

"Really?" A mischievous gleam appeared in his gaze. "You might have to reassure me."

Still smiling, she lowered her head to meet his lips.

* * *

 **AN: All screams and curses can be directed to the PM or Twitter MouseNine9**

 **Next week only one big chapter will be posted.**


	21. Chapter Twenty

_Scene: Gym beginning of class. Current class is milling around the court getting ready for volleyball. The door to the gym opens and Helen rushes into the gym, hurrying towards the locker rooms._

 _Extra: "What's wrong with Helen?"_

 _Sophia and Stephanie, who are standing to the side, turn as one in time to see Helen run into the locker room. Stephanie turns to the girl who spoke._ _  
Stephanie: "Come on. We need you for look out."_

 _The three girls hurry towards the locker room and open the door. Stephanie points to the two remaining girls in the area._

 _Stephanie: "Out. We need this for a moment."_

 _The girls leave, leaving the locker room empty. The extra takes her place at the door, keeping an eye out for teachers or other students. Every once in a while she glances towards the direction of the broken sobbing. Sophia and Stephanie follow the sobbing until they reach the empty showers. Helen is sitting on the floor of the shower in the corner, her body curled up tight, her head buried in her knees. Stephanie stops and takes point at the entrance of the shower while Sophia hurries in and drops down to where Helen is sitting mindless of any water. Her arm goes around Helen's shoulder and she pulls the sobbing girl towards her._

 _Sophia: "Tell me."_

 _Helen: (between breathless sobs) "He….h-hates….me."_

 _Sophia: "Who? (she frowns) Arthur?"_

 _Helen is still sobbing, nods her head against her knees._

 _Sophia: "Stop it. He doesn't hate you."_

 _Helen: "He does!"_

 _Helen lifts her head, and swallows hard, forcing tears to stop. She wiped her face messily with the bottom of her shirt._

 _Sophia: "Tell me."_

 _Helen: "We had a fight. I didn't start it! He got mad and said that I was…"_

 _Helen swallows hard again, her hand clenched into fists around her legs. Her body is stiff even though Sophia's arm is around her._

 _Helen: "He said I was jealous. Of you and Marcus, of him and Lisa. That I wanted to make everyone else miserable, that I couldn't bear to see anyone happy. I'm a sad, pathetic person, and…he doesn't want to be around me if I'm going to continue to…."_

 _Helen dissolves into tears, unable to finish. Sophia looks up at Stephanie who is watching Helen. The two share an angry, knowing look. Stephanie's face tightens and she turns back around, giving Helen her privacy. Sophia's arm tightens around Helen's shoulder._

 _Sophia: "He's full of shit."_

 _Helen gives of a short choked laugh._

 _Sophia: "He wants miserable; I'll give him miserable. I'm finished with Lisa and her crap, just wait until I get my hands on that little…"_

 _Helen: "No!"_

 _Helen's head lifts, tears still running down her face. She clutches Sophia's arm._

 _Helen: "No! don't say anything. Not to Marcus, not to Arthur, not to anyone."_

 _Sophia: "No, not this time. I'm not going to keep silent while that manipulative bitch runs you into the ground using Arthur as the…"_

 _Helen: "You can't. He'll know I said something to you and I don't want him to hate me even more than he does."_

 _Stephanie turns around, her eyes still full of anger._

 _Stephanie: "Helen, you have to stop allowing Lisa to get away with everything. If Arthur is stupid enough to turn his back on the way she treats him, that's on him. But he isn't allowed to verbally beat you up because you stand your ground. And I'm not going to allow her to manipulate you also."_

 _Helen shakes her head almost wildly._

 _Helen: "Please. Don't say anything. I can't bear…"_

 _Stephanie growls lowly, sharing another look with Sophia._

 _Stephanie: "Fine. I won't say anything to them."_

 _Sophia: "Likewise. I will not say anything to Arthur or Lisa, at this time. But I will be telling Marcus and if Lisa places one foot out of line, I will invoke my wrath on her in ways that will make Gods tremble."_

 _Stephanie give off a small snort of laughter. Helen's shoulder lift once in a silent snort. She leans her head against Sophia's shoulder and the girl wraps her other arm around Helen._

 _Helen: (small voice) "I'm sorry."_

 _Sophia: "Don't ever be sorry for your feelings Helen. It's not your fault."_

 _Sophia lays her head on top of Helen's and sighs._

 _Sophia: "One day you'll get over him."_

 _Helen: "I doubt it. The chances of you giving up on me are higher."_

 _Sophia: "We're best friends Helen. I will never give up on you. You're stuck with me forever chump."_

 _S4E3:" Support System"_

* * *

"I'm so excited about today, I'm not sure I'm not going to pass out. Allen said I'm going to be great but I'm just so nervous, everyone will see me on television."

Ronnie hadn't stopped talking since they returned from dinner the night before with the exception of the six hours she was sleeping but the moment she woke up it was back to non-stop talking.

Daphne wasn't sure how to handle this new improved Ronnie. Lyss and Izzy would be shocked and excited, which was good because then Daphne could pawn her new talkative friend off on her other two talkative friends. Personally, she was ready for this day to be over because tomorrow meant they were going home.

A knock came on their bedroom door halting Ronnie's one sided conversation before it opened and her dad poked his head in.

"You two about ready?"

"Yes!" Ronnie all but yelled, grabbing her shoes and hurrying towards the door. "Is Harold here?"

He laughed and shook his head. "Not quite yet Veronica." He glanced back towards her. "You okay Kimba?"

She studied her father. When they returned to the hotel room last night, with Ronnie talking excitedly on one ear, she had noticed her father when he had opened the door. He looked like he did when they left, but there was something different. Something she'd never seen before and she wasn't sure what was different.

"Can I ask you a question Dad? Personal?"

He frowned slightly and nodded, leaned back out into the main room to tell Ronnie he was going to talk to her for a moment and to listen for the door before stepping fully into the room and shutting the door behind him.

"What's wrong?"

She took a deep breath and decided to just go for it. She couldn't figure out a way to dance around the subject in a way that he would figure out what she wanted to know.

"Just how close is this show to your real life in high school?"

She watched his face cycle through shock, realization and finally embarrassment. Rubbing a hand across the back of his neck, he cleared his throat nervously and walked to the bed to sit down.

"The basic premise and group of friends are close but not all the story lines are exact. For example, there wasn't an empty classroom above the cafeteria that Helga and I ever got trapped in for half a school day. We never had the quirky coffee shop everyone hung out at after school. And nobody ever got arrested for the vandalism on the fifty-yard line in our Sophomore year, although I do know who did it."

"But you and mom dated all through high school and you were best friends with Hel for most of that."

He nodded.

"Then who are the others?" she asked. "They had to have been important to you if Tad and Hel recreated them for this show. I don't know half these people."

Arnold sighed. "The main cast in this show are based loosely on a group of kids that pretty much stayed together from fourth grade to our high school years. We were all friends, more or less, for that entire time. And then the last year of high school, it all blew up. Some of them dropped out, some went to rehab, some went to a juvenile facility, others… and some of us just tried to hold on the best we could, even if it meant dropping someone we held dear."

Daphne sat down on the bed next to her father. Hearing it from the cast mates and figuring out parts on her one was one thing, to hear it confirmed by her own father was…

"Why aren't you mad?"

He smiled tightly. "I was. I was furious seeing my biggest failing being played out on television for everyone to see."

"Your relationship with mom?"

He looked at her and shook his head. "Oh Kimba, no. Your mom and I may not like each other now but don't ever for one moment think that I ever regret marrying her. If I hadn't then I wouldn't have you and you are one of the things in my life I got right."

Smiling, she nudged her shoulder against his. He returned her smile nudging back.

"I was still mad when we came back here yesterday and then I called Rhonda. And she put some things into perspective. And I realized I was less mad and more embarrassed that I didn't have all the facts when I did what I did."

"What did you do?"

He was silent a moment. "This episode filming today is going to have a huge fight scene between Arthur and Helen. The fight is going to effectively end their friendship. Helga and I got into that fight. And I ended our friendship. And because of that I was not there when she needed me the most."

"What happened?"

She got a sad smile. "We'll talk about it when that particular episode airs."

* * *

Tad stood against one of the frames on the studio watching his best friend practically dance around the set making sure everything was in place for shooting this morning. She was gone when he woke up this morning which wasn't unusual for a shooting day. The dancing however…

"You got laid last night." He accused, a smile sliding across his face. He had an idea why she was in a good mood.

Helga spun around with a soft scream, her features going from happy to accusing in a blink of an eye.  
"Quit sneaking up on me!" she accused as she walked towards him. He took in her outfit for today; her usual attire except the shirt was a pale pink color that just happened to match the ribbon holding her braid. His smile grew wider as she blushed realizing he knew what she was wearing and why. "And I did not, get your mind out of the gutter."

"Something happened last night to make you so damn happy." His smile softened. "It's been a hell of a long time since I've seen you this happy."

"Nothing happened." She insisted. "I just…. Arnold and I just talked."

He gave her a look. "Just talked." He repeated and tried to keep from smiling as her face turned pink again.

"There…might have been kissing too."

"I'm not sure if I should high five you or hug you."

She gave a quick glance around the still empty studio before grabbing his hand and hurriedly pulling him back towards the curtained area where they had talks with each other and cast members if the need arose. The smaller area was blocked off from the rest of the sound stage and afforded a quiet comfortable place to decompress. The curtain swung closed behind them before Helga dropped his hand and spun around grinning.

"He likes me Tad." She said, her hands clutched at her chest. "He likes me, he's not mad at me and…I don't know what I did to be this happy right now."

He grinned at her. After being the person who listened to her soliloquies for years, it was nice to hear one that resulted from sheer happiness.

"Of course he's not mad at you Hel."

"No, he's…. he likes me. Likes me likes me."

That elicited a chuckle. "Did we revert back to middle school?"

"We talked and kissed and talked…"  
"I suspect there was more kissing than talking happening last night."

"We're going to try a long term thing."

"Long distance long term?"

"For a while, just to see what happens." She sat on the piano bench looking up at Tad. "He wants me." She whispered.

He smiled for her, swallowing any comments about long distance relationships for the moment. Helga was happy-truly happy- in this moment and he was not about to be the person who ruined that. It was easier, not to mention safer, to wait until they returned home, everything went back to normal and then revisit this conversation. He knew she wouldn't leave while the show was still in production, but after…he didn't know. For the chance to live the rest of her life with Arnold, it wasn't something he would ever begrudge her, but he wanted to make sure it was what she absolutely wanted before he helped her pack and sell the condo.

Instead, he dropped down onto the piano bench next to her and took her hand.

"Why wouldn't he?" he asked, his voice low. "Arnold's never been an idiot. And it's about time you got a happy ending Helga."

She smiled at him, her face glowing.

"Now, wipe that smile off your face, we have an episode to film." He gave her a quick grin and squeezed her hand before standing up. "And you know if the kids see you smiling, they're going to harass the hell out of you and we'll never get anything finished."

Almost on cue, the smile was gone and replaced by her usual annoyed look. But she couldn't hide the glimmer in her eyes.

The rise of voices on the other side of the curtain told them that the actors were slowly finishing makeup and costuming and gathering on set for their scenes.

Helga and Tad shared a look before she stood up.

"Thank you Tad."

He squeezed her shoulder. "You're my best friend Hel. Now, buck up Pataki and let's go face the hordes."

He flung the curtain back with a flourish and Helga stalked out into the bright lights and noise of the live studio.

The actors and stage hands were all gathered in their groups talking and rehearsing, the director Ben was at his usual spot pre-production, talking with the camera techs. He spotted Tad and Hel as they left the curtained area and waved towards them.

"Hey, question about scene seven!" he yelled across the room. Tad snatched up his script from his chair and flipped through it.  
"Scene seven, scene seven… hey Arnold, got it!" he yelled back.

The chair next to theirs was occupied by Arnold, who was reading something on his phone. He had looked up as they approached, his face brightening.

"Morning Tad."

Tad halted his step, looking down at Arnold and then back to Helga. "I hope you two weren't going to try to keep this a secret but you two suck at this." He continued his trek towards Ben to discuss camera changes. Arnold watched Tad walk past before looking back to Helga who was running a hand over her face.

"You told him?"

"He could read it all over my face." She picked up her own script before catching his studious gaze. "What?"

His lip quirked. "I like your bow. It's pink like your shirt."

She could feel her face grow hot. "Shut up." She muttered. He snickered, reaching out enough to make sure their hands brushed as she stalked past him to join Tad. He noticed the director give her an odd look before talking and grinned before sitting back and going back to checking his e-mails on his phone.

"Mr. Shortman?"

Arnold looked up from his phone and into the eyes of a nervous Rebecca Pilson, the actress who played Helen. She was dressed for her role; messy ponytail, ripped jeans, sneakers, and a wrinkled purple and red plaid button down. The shirt color was wrong but standing there he had a sudden flash of one of the last times he'd spoken to Helga in high school.

" _You win. Don't speak to me ever again."_

"Are you okay?"

He blinked, bringing himself into the present, no longer seeing Helga, but the young actress playing a role.

"Sorry, I just…you reminded me of someone for just a moment."

Her eyes slid towards the director and the two executive producers of the show before flicking back to him.

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

He frowned at her. "You did nothing wrong?"

"I did. I love this job, the ability to dress up as someone else and pretend. And when we thought there might be an ounce of reality in this story, we thought it was funny, that Hel and Tad put some of them in this story was great. That fact that Allen and I were playing what could've been younger versions of Tad and Hel was just cool, that their lives were this messed up…there was no way, they are great storytellers but even this stuff, it's embellished just a bit. And then when we met Daphne and you and her mom…" She was talking so fast now, tripping over words; nothing like the teen she played on the show, this was the young woman herself. "And we pumped her for information about her family and last night…I'm afraid we freaked her out and I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for anyone to get upset. This is a show; it's supposed to be pretend. It isn't supposed to actually be someone's life."

"Slow down." He touched her arm, the girl was almost in tears. "You have nothing to apologize for, nobody expected this. And not everything in this show actually happened, at least not in some of the ways depicted so far, so please, stop worrying. Daphne and I talked this morning, maybe we should've talked sooner, there are a lot of things I and the other parents kept from her and her friends; it was our past, it was painful and we don't ever talk about it. But maybe that's the problem." He gave her a small smile. "It's the last season of this show, go, have fun. But…if I can?"

She nodded. He reached out and gently tugged a small lock of blond hair from her already messy ponytail. He adjusted it so it sat against her face, just out of her line of sight.

"In the beginning of our Senior year, Helga and I had a huge screaming fight outside the school in between classes. I never screamed, even when I was mad so it was a turning point for me. And while I said some of the most hateful, mean things to someone who was supposed to be one of my best friends, the only thing I could think about was that one piece of hair that had come loose from her pony tail and how it just didn't look right. After we stopped yelling at each other, I was planning to fix it for her."

She frowned, the piece of hair moving gently with her. "You two were having the worst fight of your lives and all you could think about was fixing her hair?"

He shrugged, "We'd had yelling matches before, it was almost second nature. Until I opened my mouth and said one of the stupidest things I've ever uttered in my life. I knew I crossed a line the minute I said it. And I'll never forget the look on her face, I never want to see that look again."

She smiled. "I don't think you will. Thank you Mr. Shortman."

"Becky! Aren't you supposed to be running lines?" Helga shouted from across the room. Rebecca rolled her eyes and Arnold grinned.

"Her bark has always been bigger than her bite."

"Some things don't change, then." She raised her voice loud enough to match Helga's. "I'm trying to find my motivation Hel!"

"Your motivation is currently back stage running lines with Darren because you're out here flapping your gums with the contest winners!"

Arnold grinned again as Rebecca raced towards the backstage and watched as Helga watched the girl hurry again, her brow creasing when she noted the small change to the girl's hairstyle.

* * *

The actual production was even better than the dress rehearsal the previous day. It was filmed out of order but even then he could put the pieces together without needing a copy of the script. Ronnie was perfect in her role, her attitude and clothing reminding him of her mother back in high school. The look on Brooke's face when she spotted the two, heads together laughing about something, was priceless. He remembered when Tad's cousin came to visit the beginning of their Senior year. The dark haired girl was beautiful and almost as crazy as Tad. He also remembered that Rhonda was out of sorts the entire time the girl visited, only returning to her usual self the day she'd gone home.

The scene in the gym, now knowing when it happened, was painful. Daphne was great as the girl pulling look out duty but the actual scene inside the shower hurt. Rebecca played Helen perfectly; broken, devastated and yet willing to be the so called bad guy. Watching the three girls was bittersweet. He could see the quiet frustration of Patty peeking out from the character of Stephanie, Helen's broken wracked sobs hurt because he knew Helga did the same thing. But watching Sophia stand there with fire in her eyes, her fists clenched, practically spitting her words…it was too much.

For a week after their big fight, Gerald kept giving him looks and wouldn't say more than two words to him. Until he cornered him one day after school and demanded answers. Gerald had never really given him an answer but he did apologize for avoiding him. Even then Arnold had an idea why; he'd hurt Helga. And if he hurt Helga, that meant…

He lifted a fist to his mouth, his eyes blurring as he watched the small Asian actress snarl and spit. He hadn't thought of her in years. She'd been on his mind from time to time, but to actively think of her…no. Gerald didn't talk about it, so he didn't bring it up out of respect to his best friend.

Someone touched his shoulder and he looked up, seeing Tad through blurry eyes.

Tad jerked his head towards the back of the sound stage and Arnold stood up to follow him.

"It cuts, doesn't it?" he asked when they were out of range of the set.

Arnold wiped his eyes, nodding. "When I didn't know who Sophia was it was fine, but watching her up there, knowing what I know now. God, it hurts Tad. It hurts more than watching the fight between Helen and Lisa yesterday, and I know it's going to hurt more than reliving the fight. How in the hell have you two done this for four years? How has she done this for four years without breaking?"

Tad leaned against a wall, studying Arnold for a moment. "The first day of final production, the first scene was the four walking towards the doors of the school, you remember that?"

Arnold nodded. "The small bickering match between Helen and Marcus."

"That one. The minute the scene was over and there was a set change, Hel walked calmly to the back of the set and burst into tears. Hysterical, chest heaving sobs. I freaked out and almost stopped production but she wouldn't let me. So I held her for fifteen minutes while she fell apart and then it was over. Later, when I asked, she told me the rehearsals were one thing, but the moment Joan started speaking as Sophia in full costume, Helga had a flashback. I know it still hurts her but she powers through."

"But the Homecoming…"

Tad nodded sadly. "She couldn't write it. It took her three days to get where she was in the script. I had to physically eject her out of her office and write that one scene. It hurt me, but not as much as it did her. There was Xanax and another two days of not sleeping before she finished the script. And then there was her therapist on speed dial. Honestly, I have no idea what to expect when we finally shoot the episode. Not only will the kids be devastated, but watching it play out again…you missed it the first time, thankfully. I've seen her heart-broken, I've seen her devastated, but to see the great and powerful Helga Pataki crumble before your eyes. I believed then and honest to God still believe to this day that had she been able to get her hand on a weapon at that moment, she would've followed."

Arnold was taken aback. He still remembered the look of hurt on her face from their fight, the utter defeat in her eyes before she'd told him to fuck off. He couldn't even wrap his mind around Helga in that position. He'd been late to school that day because Lila had been late getting ready. By the time they'd gotten to school, the police and ambulances had already swarmed the school. He remembered trying to call Gerald on his cell and the voice mail picking up. He didn't find out until about five hours later what had happened and even then he didn't know everything until he reached the hospital where Gerald was and the young man had broken down in front of him.

"I didn't know." He whispered. "I never did. I knew she was quiet and I knew that it affected her…a lot. But I never knew to the extent…"

"Like Gerald, we never brought it up. It was a taboo subject." Tad looked around him towards the set. "And it looks as if we've been gone too long, they've set up for the next scene. Quiet as we sneak back in."

Arnold followed him back into the closed set, stopping when he saw the scene currently being filmed.

Helen stood across from Arthur, her arms tightly folded against her chest, her hair still askew. Across from her, Arthur looked annoyed and angry, his hands clenched into fists.

"Why can't you ever let anyone be happy?" he snapped, his voice loud. Helen barked out a laugh.

"Once again you mistake happy for whipped." She snarled back.

Arthur's eyes narrowed and Arnold braced himself, knowing what was about to come.

"God forbid anyone is happy around you Helen." Arthur yelled. Helen blinked in shock, her hands falling away from her chest. "You can't be happy so you try to ruin it for everyone else, Marcus and Sophia, me and Lisa. You're so damn miserable that you need to make everyone miserable. Why the hell can't you just live your own life and stop trying to ruin everyone else's?"

Helen reacted as if slapped. Arnold's heart clenched as he saw the look of raw devastation on her face. On the set, Arthur saw it too and sighed.

"Helen…"

"Go to hell," Helen whispered, the tears choking her voice.

"Helen,"

"No. You win." She looked up at him with watery eyes and he leaned back. "You win. Don't ever talk to me again Arthur. I'm dead to you."

"Helen…"

The blond spun on her heels and stalked off. Arthur took a step towards her when a hand touched his shoulder.

"What happened?" Lisa's concerned voice asked.

Arthur looked back at the redhead, and then to the retreating blond. "We had a fight, I should probably go find her."

"No. Leave her." Lisa said, her arms wrapping around his and pulling him towards the door leading into the school. "She'll calm down and realize she was wrong. The best thing is to leave her be."

He frowned, looking back at the direction she'd gone.

"Are you sure?"

"Arthur, I'm a woman, trust me, I know these things."

He nodded and allowed her to pull him into the school.

"Cut!" Ben yelled and the sounds began. Tad stood up and clapped.

"That was brilliant!" he called out to the cast members reappearing. "They'll be talking about this scene for weeks."

Rebecca and Ariel looked towards Hel who was still sitting silently in her chair writing. Finally, she looked up at them and smiled.

"That was perfect." She said. Both girls grinned in relief.

Tad leaned over to look at her script. "What's coming up next?"

She flipped through a couple of the pages. "Steph and Gordon and the big fight between Sara, Morris and Stan."

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" Arnold asked her. She looked up in confusion and Tad took her script.

"Go ahead, I got this covered."

"I'll be three minutes." She stood up, and jerked her head towards the covered side stage. "This way, it's safe to talk here while they're setting up for the next scene."

He followed her behind the curtain, letting it fall behind him and cut out both the sight and muffle the sounds of the sets.

"What's wrong?"

He reached out and pulled her towards him, his hand cupping her cheek as his lips covered hers. She stood still for a moment before almost melting into him, her hands lifting to lay flat against his chest as she kissed him back.

He'd felt it last night, the tell-tale tightening of his chest when they'd kissed but he wasn't sure until right now. It was real.

He pulled away but didn't let her go.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, his lips still so close to hers. "I am so damn sorry, about everything. That fight, what I said, not being there for you during…"

She closed the distance, her lips closing over his and he pulled her closer, his fingers digging into her braid, delving deeper until he could hear her breathy moan against his mouth. This time she pulled away.

"Arnold." Her voice was winded, as if she had run a distance. "We can't change it. Can we just move forward?"

He nodded, his fingers lifting to stroke her face. "We can. But seeing that made me realize how stubborn and stupid I was."

"Moving forward." She repeated.

"Fine. Moving forward."

"You can't kill me like that anymore. At least not here." She dropped one last quick kiss against his lips before stepping out of him embrace. "I can't be expected to think when you kiss me like that."

He grinned. "Fair enough. I can't be expected to think either. But, tonight's our last night here, can I see you before we leave?"

She smiled. "Of course. I think I can convince a couple of people to play tour guide one more night."

She took a deep breath and just like that, Hel was back, albeit with slightly messier hair, but she was back. "I have to get back out there before they start the next scene."

She swept past him and back out to the main set. He silently counted to five before following her. Tad was already grinning as he returned to his seat.

"Your hair's a little messed up there Hel." He teased.

"Shut up Tad," she snapped as she turned her attention to the set and the newest characters taking their place. Arnold just shook his head as he sat back and watched the next scene.

* * *

 **AN: We're coming down to the home stretch, people. Next week the final two chapters for this story will be posted. I want to thank everyone who's stuck around this long. Just because this story is ending doesn't mean that the saga is finished.**


	22. Chapter Twenty-One

_Scene: half-finished basement of Xavier's house. Xavier is sitting in a hammock writing something. The door to the basement opens and footsteps are heard on the stairs. The boy doesn't look up from his work. The footsteps cross the floor, muted on the large throw rug on the floor and Naomi appears in scene. Her footsteps falter as she looks at Xavier, but only for a moment. She continues her journey and reaches him, placing one hand lightly over the hand he's writing with._

 _The camera pulls pack just enough to show that he wasn't writing, rather carving into his arm with an exacto knife. Blood has pooled under his arm on the desk his carved arm is laying on._

 _Naomi: "That's enough. You need to get cleaned up."_

 _With her words, Xavier puts down the knife and picks up the roll of paper towels next to him in the hammock, carefully wiping the blood from his arm. Without words, Naomi walks across the room to the small sink in the laundry room and wets down some paper towels. Reaching into a small cabinet, she pulls out a small box on gauze, some large bandages and some ointment. She crosses back to Xavier and helps him clean up his arm._

 _He says nothing as she carefully cleans the remaining blood from his arm and wraps the wounds up with medicated bandages, then wrapping the bandages with gauze in case the bandages bleed through. She cleans up the mess and discard the bloody towels in the trash, putting the knife back in the cabinet with the supplies._

 _As she crosses back across the room once again, Xavier is now laying in the hammock, staring up at the ceiling. Naomi climbs into the hammock, cuddling next to him. He moves his uninjured arm to wrap around her and pull her close._

 _Xavier: "You make the pain go away."_

 _Naomi: "So do you."_

 _Xavier: "How much did you eat today?"_

 _Naomi: "Five bottles of water. I had to eat a couple of bites of lettuce, my mom made me. I feel so fat, I was doing so well."_

 _Xavier's arm tightens against her shoulder._

 _Xavier: "I'm sorry."_

 _Naomi shakes her head, buried against his chest._

 _Naomi: "Don't. It's my mom's fault for pushing me, and mine for giving in. My will power should've been stronger. That's why I'm here. You make me stronger. I don't think about food when I'm with you."_

 _Xavier: "Don't ever leave Nami, I won't stop if I ever lose you."_

 _S04 E013_

 _We All Fall Down_

* * *

"I know we're leaving tomorrow but is it okay if we hang out with a couple of the people from the show for a couple of hours?" Daphne asked as they were being driven back to the hotel.

Arnold had been waiting for this. After Helga had mentioned that it might be possible for her kids to kidnap his daughter and Ronnie for a couple of hours so they could at least see each other.

"I don't see why not. As long as it isn't too long."

"Oh it's not." Daphne insisted. "A group of us are just going to hang out in the hotel and watch a couple of episodes of season three."

"I'm sorry?" That was not what he was expecting. "At the hotel? You aren't going out with them?"

Ronnie shook her head as she leaned tiredly against Daphne's shoulder. "No. Anne suggested we all just veg out our last night here and watch season three. They're going to bring pizza and drinks and it'll be like a slumber party. But without the actual sleeping over."

Arnold smiled weakly, trying to figure out how to forewarn Helga. Of all the things they've done both last night at the hotel and today at the studio, of all the things they've talked of, he hadn't thought to get her phone number.

"Sounds like fun." He said.

* * *

He was pacing without looking like he was pacing. He'd never had a reason to hide anything from his daughter. After Lila, he'd never dated and if he was going out with Gerald, usually Daphne knew about it. This was the first time that he was trying to get away with something under his daughter's nose. And of course there had to be a crowd coming over.

There was a knock at the hotel door and he hurried towards it…without looking like he was hurrying. He heard the door to the other bedroom open as he opened the front door to the hotel.

Anne and Ariel stood at the door dressed like any other teens he'd seen in his neighborhood. Behind them, Allen, Lana and Blaine were holding two bags of sodas, chips and about six boxes of pizza between them.

"Stuff's heavy." Blaine grunted and Arnold pulled the door open further and let the group in.

"We bring dinner!" Anne announced, dropping her purse on the floor next to the door.

"You brought yourself, we brought dinner." Blaine retorted as he placed the boxes on the counter.

"I chipped in, you're the one who said you had it."

"We have pizza, soda and chips. I think I remember how to do this veg in thing." Lana joked as she set the bags of chips on the counter next to the pizza boxes. Allen put the sodas next to them and looked around.

"Do we have plates and napkins?"

"Um…no. But I can have some sent up." Arnold picked up the phone and dialed room service. After explaining what he needed the person on the other line assured him they could bring up some plates, napkins and cups in about fifteen minutes. He hung up and looked at the kids already claiming their spaces on the couches and the floor in the main room. Daphne was setting up the television and Blaine was throwing out suggestions. He leaned up against the counter and watched them. It looked like every other time in his house when Daphne had her friends over for a movie night. Except this wasn't his house and these kids were not ordinary kids.

"So are we starting with episode one and going until we can't anymore or skipping around?" Ariel asked from the couch, passing a bag of chips to Allen who was on the floor in between Anne and Ronnie's legs. He grabbed a handful and handed the bag back up to Ronnie.

"I'm for skipping to our favorite episodes. We all have them."

"Then start with episode seven," Blaine suggested. "I like that one."

"I knew you were a closet Sophie/ Marcus shipper!" Lana laughed, ducking the chip he threw in her direction.

"It's not a ship if it's canon." He reasoned.

"Wait, after that I want episode twelve." Anne insisted.

"Of course you do," Ariel teased.

There was a knock on the door and Arnold walked to it, shaking his head at the antics of the kids in the living room. He opened the door to see both room service and Helga standing there.

"Hi!" he said to both, opening the door for the cart to make its way into the room while using his other hand to hold Helga in place. She frowned.

"What's…"

He covered her mouth with a hand and her eyes widened.

"There's a mess of your kids sitting in my hotel room eating pizza and watching season three." He explained quietly. Her eyes widened more.

"Give me one minute."

He stepped back into the room and signed the slip the room service employee handed him adding a tip, as the kids left their places to grab plates and glasses.

"Thank you so much." He told the employee, waiting until the person left.

"Okay, not that this isn't going to be fun, but do you guys promise not to trash the hotel room if I leave you?"

"Scouts honor!" Allen insisted as he took a bite of pizza.

"You were never a scout." Anne laughed.

"I'll just be down in the restaurant. I have my cell on me if you need anything."

"Have fun Dad!" Daphne yelled as she sat down on the floor next to Ronnie's leg and clicked on the Dvd. Shrugging he left the room, shutting the door behind him.

Helga was leaning against the wall, an amused expression on her face.

"You got kicked out of your own hotel room, huh?"

"This could have all been averted if I'd remembered to get your number earlier," He jerked his head towards the door. "But we can always go back in and head to the main bedroom. Past the group of seven kids currently sitting in the middle of the main room, five of which are yours."

Her cheeks reddened as she shook her head. "That's quite all right. The restaurant is fine."

He slid an arm around her waist as they moved towards the elevator. "Not quite how I wanted to spend our last night together, but we should know by now, nothing ever goes to plan."

* * *

They stood in the elevator alone, no curious teenagers or young adult, no other patrons of the hotel. Just the two of them alone on the elevator's decent to the main floor. While they were waiting for the elevator, she asked for his phone.

"Why?" he asked even as he unlocked it and handed it over to her. She swiped a couple of times and them typed something into it before handing it back to him.

"There. Now you have my number. In case of any other…emergencies."

He tried to remain the gentleman, but with her so close to him, with the memories of the night before when she was draped on top on him on the hotel couch, her fingers brushing against the skin over his ribs.

Halfway down to the lobby, he reached out his hand to touch hers, his pinky hooking hers. She looked down at their hands and then back up to him.

"You okay?"

Taking a deep breath, he shook his head. Her other fingers slid in between his to clasp their hands.

"What's wrong football head?"

He chuckled softly. "I'm just trying to remind myself that it wouldn't be a good idea to push you against the wall and kiss you senseless."

He heard a soft intake of breath followed by a nervous chuckle from her. "As nice as that sounds, the elevators have cameras. Do you really want to give security a show?"

He looked up at the corner of the elevator she was pointing to and grinned. "Thank you. That was the deterrent I needed."

"I'll make sure to request a private table in the back though."

"Helga…"

The ringing of his phone interrupted them. He pulled the phone from his back pocket and looked at the screen.

"Dammit," he whispered and felt Helga squeeze his hand in quiet support as he answered the call.

"What?"

"You really need to get over this supposed anger at me," Lila snapped on the other end of the phone. "Acting the injured party over something that happened decades ago is pretty silly."

He counted to ten silently, his hand gripping the phone. "What do you want Lila, I'm busy."

"I'm sure sitting in the hotel room with the girls counts as busy while I've been hard at work since I got here. Anyway, I'm just calling to tell you not to wait for me tomorrow. I've been asked to stay out here a couple more days."

"I wasn't planning on waiting for you anyway. How long are you planning to stay out here?"

"Don't get your hopes up Arnold, it's only a couple more days. A week at the most."

"Well at least I don't have to pay for postage to ship the papers to you out here."

An annoyed sigh came over the other end. "It seems I'm valued out here. I'm not sure when I'm going to find time to deal with that when I get home."

She knew exactly how to get under his skin.

He felt Helga squeeze his hand again as the door to the elevator opened and she tugged lightly on his hand. He followed.

"Remember what I said Lila, by the end of this month, those papers will be signed and filed or else."

"Don't threaten Arnold. It's beyond you. Now, let me talk to Daphne."

"She's busy. Call her cell."

He flipped the phone off before she could answer and shoved it back into his back pocket.

"She always knows which buttons to push." He muttered.

"She's known since high school exactly how to work you Arnold." Helga said as they approached the smiling hostess. "Table for two, please. In the back."

She let go of his hand long enough for them to follow the hostess towards the back of the hotel restaurant, a secluded table where anyone walking by the restaurant wouldn't be able to see them. The circular booth was partially hidden by a large topiary. He let her in first and then slid in after her.

"Well, this is cozy."

"That's the idea."

He chuckled, picking up the menu. "So, how do you know about it?"

"Tad knows all the good hiding spots of pretty much every decent restaurant in town. Personally I'm not a fan of quiet, secluded tables when I go out. I prefer to have an easy escape route." She glanced at him, a teasing smile playing on her lips. "However, tonight I'm not planning a big escape."

He took the moment to reach across the small distance and kiss her. It was just like he remembered from the night before, warm and inviting, eager and yet hesitant. The warm floral scent she wore assaulted his senses.

He pulled away before he took more. But he couldn't help stroking her face with his fingers.

"Maybe it's a good thing the kids took over the hotel room tonight," He watched her shiver slightly.

"Really?"

He nodded. "I'm not sure how I would've explained your presence tomorrow morning to the girls when we had to get up to leave."

He bit back a grin at her blush. She punched him lightly in the shoulder as the waiter appeared.

"I can be sneaky when I need to. Trust me, I snuck out of your room enough times when we were younger."

"Wait, what?"

* * *

The night went by faster than she would've liked. They ate as she listened to him talk about Daphne and her friends, then about Harold and Patty, then Rhonda and finally Gerald. He talked about his parents and his job and his new degree.

"Let me get this straight," she finally said. She pointed a finger at him. "In grade school, you were the second coming of an ancient tribe's God, and now you have a Doctorate like your parents and pretty much do the same thing they did only without the daily near death experiences, the ancient tribes seeking you out and all from a convenient thirty-minute drive from your house?"

"When you put it that way." He took her hand, kissing the finger that had been pointing at him before lowering it on the table, his thumb swiping gently against the skin. "It sounds boring as hell."

"My ass, it sounds exciting and a hell of a lot safer. You don't know how much Gerald and your friends worried about you those two years you decided to stay with your parents."

"How about you?" The thumb brushing against her skin was distracting. "Were you worried also?"

"Doi. Of course I was. I mean, we were friends. I didn't want to hear about you getting captured or eaten because you had to go do the right thing."

He grinned. "If it makes you feel any better, there were days I was bored stiff because my parents wouldn't let me even leave the encampment. That first year, my mother had almost daily panic attacks that I was going to suddenly disappear. After living almost eleven years with my grandparents, it was stifling at times."

Helga gasped. "Arnold! That was almost down right negative."

Another chuckle. "There was a reason I came back. I mean, I missed you guys, yeah, but I couldn't take another year trapped in a two room hut with overprotective parents. Once I pulled them into civilization and they saw that I wasn't in near constant danger, they chilled a bit. That and grandma pretty much explained it all out too."

Helga laughed. "Who knew you'd leave one dangerous feeding ground for a completely different one."

He leaned towards her, the still familiar half lidded gaze that used to haunt her dreams.

"Luckily I had good friends that tried to protect me from the worst of the predators."

She could feel her temperature rise.

"We weren't completely successful."

"Not for lack of trying. I was just ignorant of the danger I was in."

Like the danger she was in at the moment. All of her years of building an impenetrable wall that she only allowed a very select few access into, cracked in almost seventy-two hours. And as of right now, there was no guarantee that it could ever be repaired.

"Do I make you nervous?" he asked, catching her off guard. He leaned back just enough that he was no longer in her personal space, but he didn't release her hand. She chewed at her lower lip, trying to figure out how to answer the question. Should she laugh it off, tell him of course not and just pretend. They only had a limited time together before he left the next morning. She took a deep breath.

"Yes."

His head tilted. "Why?"

"To be fair, you have always made me nervous because I never knew how to act around you. And when I get nervous…"  
"You retaliate."

She lifted a shoulder. Arnold leaned back in the booth, studying her.

It was not the answer he was expecting.

"You know I would never do anything to hurt you."

She just gave him a look and he cringed.

"Sorry. That was stupid. I did the biggest thing to hurt you."

"You were reacting to me trying to do the right thing. Or what I thought was the right thing at the time."

"Still." He leaned forward again. "I will probably spend the rest of my life trying to make up for that."

She shook her head. "Don't. It's not necessary. Like I said before, it's in the past, it's been excised, I'd prefer to leave it there."

Their server approached the table, smiling. "I'm so sorry to interrupt. I need to get your check. We're closing in fifteen minutes. You are more than welcome to remain here though; we just need to settle all of the accounts."

Arnold looked at his phone, his eyes widening. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know it was that late."

Helga slid a card from her small wallet and handed it to the server. Arnold grabbed her wrist.

"No. I asked you to dinner."

"And this is Hollywood. Trust me, I have this." She gently shook his hand off of her wrist and nodded to the server who took the card and walked off.

"You don't think I should be paying for dinner?" she asked.

"It's not that," he said, shaking his head. "I'm the one who suggested dinner."

"Tell you what. Our next time together you can pay."

The server came back with the folder holding her card and the bill. Helga signed it and handed it back to the server, thanking her as she slid the card back into her wallet.

"Do you mean that?" Arnold asked after the server had left. She looked up.

"Mean what?"  
His grin was almost infectious. "Our next time together."

She found herself grinning back.

"This wouldn't be much fun if we kept this new thing between us a phone only relationship."

"Wouldn't be much fun at all."

She swallowed hard, mentally slapping herself to keep from giggling. She was not nor had ever been a giggler. Having Arnold's full attention focused solely on her was not going to start that now.

"Do you have to get back to your room?"

He was silent, just looking at her. She began to fidget. She had never been comfortable with people paying close attention to her. Finally, he sighed.

"We're probably going to have to get back to the room soon. I just don't want to leave quite yet."

"What's this "we're" thing, bucko?" she teased. He leaned closer, his hand reaching out to brush her neck.

How could a simple touch reduce her to a quivering mess?

"Someone has to help me kick those extra kids out of my room," he answered playfully and then closed the small space between them, his mouth covering hers before she could respond. The kiss was quick and left her wanting more.

"Besides," he continued, his lips quirking up. "I am not giving you one final goodbye kiss in the lobby."

* * *

This was not just a normal goodnight kiss.

It became quickly apparent as they stood next to the door of his hotel room, him leaning against the wall with her as close as possible. What started as a simple goodnight kiss quickly morphed into something deeper. His hands were against her hips, holding her to him as his fingers slid between the edge of her shirt, brushing the skin at the small of her back. Her arms were around his next, fingers digging into his hair as his tongue delved further into her mouth.

A small part of her knew they were in a hallway of all places and not at all private, but the part of her that was now moaning softly against Arnold's mouth didn't really care. Her sole focus was on Arnold until she heard a quiet meep followed by a giggle.

Arnold heard it too and they broke apart guiltily to find the cause of the noise.

The door to his hotel room was open and seven teens stood in the doorway watching them, their expressions ranging from shock to downright glee.

"I'm sorry, did we interrupt something? "Anne asked, innocently.

Helga dropped her head against his shoulder briefly. "Well shit."

Daphne looked at her father and then at Helga, before turning to Blaine. "Well, this is awkward."

"Trust me, I'm with you on this one."

Helga stepped away from Arnold and her usual look of bemused annoyance was firmly back in place. "All right you chuckleheads, time to wrap this up."

A couple of well-placed snickers punctuated her statement. Helga looked at Anne.

"Delete any pictures you have now."

Anne raised her hands in defense. "I was too shocked to get my phone out in time!" She looked back at her friends. "Although if anyone did get that, I will kill for a copy."

Lana smirked. "It's already been sent to key people. This will never die now."

Right on cue, the Imperial March began playing on Helga's phone. She growled.

"You are all grounded. Say goodbye to your friends and get the hell out."

Arnold leaned against the wall, scrubbing his hands over his face as the still snickering teens said goodbye for the last time and exchanged hugs. He looked over at Helga whose face was still a deep shade of pink.

"Screw it, secrets out now." Reaching out, he took ahold of her shoulders and pulled her too him for one last kiss, ignoring the giggles and cheers from the onlookers. "Bye Helga."

She couldn't help it, she smiled still feeling a little melted. "See you later football head."

He stepped into the room, standing next to his daughter and a still perplexed Ronnie and watched the group head back to the elevators, the sound of phones binging due to text messages suddenly filling the air. He laughed as he could hear Helga groaning loudly before the elevator doors shut.

Ronnie wandered back into the large main area, yawning and shaking her head. "I have no idea what's going on. I'm going to bed."

Daphne watched her friend walked into the guest bedroom before looking at her dad.

"You look happy. Embarrassed but happy."

"That's about the just of it. Thanks, by the way for cleaning up." He looked at her. "Are…you going to be okay with this?"

"That you might finally get a happy ending? I'm fine with it Dad."

"Good. But whatever you do, please don't tell your mother. At least not until we get this across country dating thing figured out."

Daphne yawned and smiled sleepily at her father. "No worries. It's like I got spoilers to what happens after the final season. And it all turns out good."

Helga drove home slowly, ignoring the constant ringing notification of her phone that told her Tad was blowing up her phone with texts. She would deal with that when she got home. She would deal with the kids tomorrow.

She was pulling into her driveway when her phone notifications went off again. This time it was a different sound, one that told her it wasn't a person archived in her phone. Turning off the car, she picked up her phone and smiled.

 **Text you when I get home tomorrow.**

 **We can do this.**

 **A**


	23. Chapter Twenty-Two

_Helen: "Spill."_

 _Helen and Sophie are walking into the school. Sophie is wearing a dreamy look on her face._

 _Sophie: "What?"_

 _Helen: "You look like you got laid last night. I've seen that look on enough of our classmate's faces to know the look."_

 _Sophie blushed as they begin walking down the hallway towards their lockers._

 _Sophie: "I didn't! But he did spend the night."_

 _Helen: (fake outrage) "Soph, I'm shocked!_

 _Sophie laughs, catching sight of Marcus and Theo walking towards them and waving._

 _Sophie: "We talked until late in the night and he just held me. Sometimes I don't know what I did to get so lucky."_

 _Helen laughs lightly. "You deserve it Soph.."_

 _Her voice trails off as a teen boy steps out of a side hallway in front of them, a gun in his hand._

 _S4E11 "Homecoming"_

* * *

"You know what you're about to walk into, right?"

When she chose take a drink from her travel mug instead of answering him, he persisted.

"We work in a high school setting. With teens. Who talk to each other as last night flurry of texts proved. You don't honestly think you're going to be able to just walk onto the set today and pretend like last night didn't happen."

"I can try."

Tad thanked the barista as he paid for his coffee and turned to fix Helga with a look. He pulled out his phone and thrust it towards her face.

"This pretty much guarantees that you can't."

Helga blushed at the image of her and Arnold in the hallway locked in a passionate embrace.

"Criminy!"

Tad pulled the phone back to look at it. "Although, I have to say, I'm not sure whether to stay exasperated at you or give you a high five. Boy's got some moves."

Helga walked away, her face still red. Tad followed still looking at the photo.

"Where are his hands anyway?"

"Tad!"

"You want me to send this to you?"

"Tad!" She paused in mid-step. "Yes."

His chuckle followed her down the street to their sound stage. She stopped at the door, waiting for him to catch up with her. He slid past her, putting a hand on the handle of the door. He gave her a grin.

"You know I adore you, right?"

"Of course."

"Good." His grin morphed into a genuine smile. "Remember that Hel, because no matter how much I tease you about everything, I will always have your back. So I get to mess with you about Arnold, but we'll deal with the kids together."

She returned his smile briefly. Satisfied, he pulled open the door and waved her in.

"Let's go deal with the hordes."

She stepped into the lit sound stage. They could hear the conversations and laughter as they approached the sets.

"If he hurts you though, I will make his life miserable." Tad said. Helga gave him a malicious smirk.

"If you can get to him before Ol' Betsy and the five Avengers."

He grinned as they stepped into the pandemonium. "That's my Athena."

* * *

Getting two sleep deprived teens packed, dressed and out of the hotel was no small feat, but he managed it. Gerald called him while they were on their way to the airport.

"Ready to come home?"

"I'm going to need another week to recuperate from this trip," Arnold answered.

"How are the girls?"

"Half asleep in the back of a limo."

Gerald chuckled. "Snap a picture of that. You never know when I'll need blackmail."

Arnold chuckled along. "I tell you Gerald, none of this trip went the way I expected it to."

"That's what happens when you run into your ex-close friend slash unrequited love interest in the least expected place. How did meeting up with Helga again go?"

He felt himself blushing. "Man, we gotta talk when I get home."

"That good huh? Well, you go, player. You didn't manage to catch up with Halle Berry on this trip, did you?"

"Sorry Gerald, no such luck."

"Ah, well, someday. So…am I just picking up the three of you?"

"Apparently they need to keep Lila there for a couple more days. Which I am perfectly fine with, but I told her the moment she gets home she damn well better sign those papers."

"No more Mister Nice Guy? Is this about Helga?"

"This is about me finally waking up and realizing how much I've been blind to for a long time. Like I said, we have to talk when I get home."

"I'll have the beer on ice. Still six thirty tonight, right?"

"I text you if it changes."

"Cool. See you then my man."

"Later Gerald."

He surreptitiously snapped the picture of the two half asleep teens per Gerald's request. As he looked at the photo, he noticed he had a text message from an unknown number. He swiped the icon to see a message with a thumbnail photo attachment.

 _Swiped this number from Hel's phone._

 _Sent you an explanation of L's work._

 _Figured it would be useful._

 _Tad_

Arnold clicked on the thumbnail photo and his eyes widened in shock at the picture of his soon to be ex-wife in the arms of some dark haired man.

"So that's what she's doing this week," he murmured, saving the photo to his phone.

* * *

The two girls were a bit more alert by the time the limo arrived at the airport. Arnold got out and took the bags from Harold, shaking the man's hand.

"Thank you for everything."

"It was my pleasure, Mr. Shortman. Have a safe trip back home."

He gave the man a final nod and herded the girls into the airport.

"What time are we getting back?" Ronnie asked, pulling her bag along the smooth floor as they headed towards their gate.

"About six hours from now. I already talked to Gerald and he should be at the airport waiting for us around six thirty. You want to text your mom?"

"I was going to. Just to let her know."

Arnold smiled at her. "I'm sure she misses you. I think this has been the longest she's been without you."

Daphne yawned as she trailed after them. "I'll just be glad to get home. This trip was amazing but I miss the comforts of home."

"Me too Kimba."

"That and I can't wait to tell Lyss and Izzy about our trip." Daphne added with a mischievous grin.

"And show her the pictures." Ronnie added.

The two girls fell into discussion of everything they were going to tell the other two girls sounding a little like they did before they ever arrived in California.

 _Going home will be nice,_ Arnold thought as he followed after the teens, but _there's something to be said for new experiences._

* * *

"So I took your advice," Arnold said as he walked out onto the back porch and handed Gerald a beer. Gerald twisted the top and took a drink as Arnold sat down in one of the chairs.

Gerald had picked up the group at the airport and driven them back to the Shortman household. The two teens were currently asleep in Daphne's room. Rhonda would pick up Ronnie tomorrow morning so for now, everything was winding down from almost a week's worth of whirlwind chaos.

"So you did find Halle Berry at the last minute and give her my number?" Gerald joked. Arnold sighed in contentment and twisted the cap off his own bottle.

"Still a no on that front, but I know someone who could. No, the hooking up with a rich, hot blonde."

Gerald grinned. "I'll take your word for it. How is the illustrious Ms. Pataki these days?"

"Good. Really good." He took a drink of his own bottle. "I really was ridiculously clueless in high school, wasn't I?"

"I wouldn't say ridiculously. I'd use sad." He raised his hand in acquiescent at Arnold's mock glare. "Kidding, kidding."

"I don't know Gerald. I've learned more about all of my life choices in the last four days. Things I never even had a clue about previously. Things nobody ever told me." Another stern glare towards Gerald. "You know, as my best friend, it was your job to let me know when I made bad decisions."

"Man, do you remember how you were our entire high school career?" Gerald asked. "If it involved Lila in any way, shape or form, you went off the deep end. It was the only thing you absolutely refused to listen to anyone on. Your parents could've told you about Lila being bad news and you would have told them they were dead wrong."

"Okay, okay. Sorry, you raise a good point. I picked the wrong ground to make a stand."

"You are damn stubborn when you want to be." Gerald took another drink. "Which is why I think you and Helga have always gotten along…mostly." He gave Arnold another grin.

"Does Lila know?"

"No. And I'd prefer her not to for a while. One, because it's none of her business. And also," Arnold sighed, picking at the label on the bottle. "This…thing is still largely untested. We are literally on either ends of the continent. I can't guarantee anything for a while and I definitely do not want Lila making my life even more of a living hell than she already does. Especially if this doesn't work out the way I want it to."

"Do you want it to?"

"Yes. I mean," Another sigh. "Seeing her Gerald. When she walked out from behind the curtain that first time, it was like a punch to the gut. It was like I'd just found a missing part of my heart I had forgotten I'd lost. Talking to her, interacting with her, being on the receiving end of one of her famous scowls…it was like we were never apart. "

"I'm getting a little nauseous." Gerald joked as he watched his best friend's face light up while he was talking. It was a look he hadn't seen on Arnold's face in a long time.

"Sorry." He sobered. "You're right, I'm a middle aged man with a teenaged daughter and a failed marriage under my belt. What right do I have to get another chance at a happy ending?"

Gerald sat silently for a long time, nursing his drink. Finally, he turned his attention back to Arnold.

And smiled.

"I'm not quite sure it's your chance. You just might be the lucky participant who gets to tag along."

A slow smile slid across Arnold's face.

"You know what? I think you're right. And that's okay, I will be more than happy to tag along."

"Mmmm," Gerald shook his head and held out his bottle towards the other man. "You are a brave man, Arnold."

Arnold grinned and tapped his bottle in a silent cheers.

* * *

 _Scene: Holly Hills High gymnasium_

 _Graduation caps are thrown into the air as the Principal announces the graduating class. Friends are hugging each other and crying. Theo is talking to his parents when he catches Marcus' eye. The teen nods towards the blond sitting alone in the aisle. Excusing himself, he walks past the crowds of students and down the empty row of seats._

 _Theo: "Mom and Dad are springing for dinner."_

 _Helen: "I don't want to burden them."_

 _Theo: [snorts] "Like you're burdening anyone. It's more of a Congratulations/Bon Voyage/take care of our precious little boy dinner."_

 _Helen starts laughing._

 _Theo: "You going to miss this place?"_

 _Helen: "You're kidding right?"_

 _Theo and Helen looked at each other and laughed._

 _Helen: "Honestly Theo, I've never been so glad to leave a place as I am this entire town."_

 _The two let silence fall as the camera pans to their classmates: Gordon and Stephanie talking to their parents, hands clasped together. Brooke surrounded by her parents. Sheila and Morris sharing a quick hug before separating to meet with their prospective parents. Marcus and his parents talking with Arthur and Lisa's parents as Arthur and Lisa share a kiss. Marcus looks over at the two sitting down and gives them both a smile and a nod. Theo nods back before he stands up and holds a hand out to Helen._

 _Theo: "Ready to go?"_

 _Helen stands up and pulls the graduation robes off. Hooking her arm in his, she nods._

 _Helen: "Let's get out of this place."_

 _Together, the two make their way through the empty row and head out of the gymnasium._

 _The camera follows the two out the front doors until the double doors of Holly Hills High close behind them._

 _Camera fades._

 _S4E23_

" _So This Is Goodbye"_

* * *

 **AN: This is the end of this part of the story. I want to thank everyone who's been along for the ride. You guys and your reviews have just been amazing! I have been more blown away by the response to this story than you can imagine. That said, I hope I can continue you blow you away because this story is not over.**

 **Next Sunday I will be posting the second story of this saga, Never After. It's a one shot and I am asking everyone to please read the disclaimer at the beginning of the story before you actually read the story. After that, I probably won't be posting for hopefully only a month so I can finish the third part of this story Happily Ever. We're going back to Hillwood, people!**

 **In the meantime, if you need a good story to read, please, read Avalanche by Pointy Objects or Pink by Smarty0007. Both of these are my current addictions.**

 **Again, thank you all so much and I'll see you back here next week.**


End file.
